Phase & care: P1 for weak black tea, low-fat milk, honey, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. Clove isn’t on my personal list, so it’s optional and I start with one.
Shop chai and chai spice mixes often contain black pepper. It’s the tingle at the back of the throat, and it’s on my never list.
So I make it without. Ginger gives the warmth, and I don’t miss the pepper.
Makes 2 mugs. About 2 g fat per mug with 1.5% milk (about 1.3 g with 1% milk). Roughly 85 kcal per mug.
Prep 5 min · Cook 12 min · Total 17 min
Ingredients
- 250 ml (1 cup) water
- 1 cm (1/2 inch) fresh ginger, thinly sliced (about 5 g)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- Optional: 1 clove
- 2 black tea bags (or 2 teaspoons loose tea)
- 250 ml (1 cup) 1.5% milk, or 1% milk
- 2 teaspoons honey (about 14 g)
Method
- Put the water, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and clove (if using) in a small pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 5 minutes.
- Add the tea bags. Turn off the heat and steep for 3 minutes. Keep it weak.
- Remove the tea bags. Add the milk and heat gently until steaming. Don’t boil it.
- Strain into two mugs. Stir in the honey.
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Notes
Black tea is on my phase 1 list, but I keep it weak and not after mid-afternoon. For an evening version, use rooibos tea bags in place of black tea. Rooibos isn’t on my personal list, so start small.
Make a jar of the dry spices if you’d like: ground ginger, ground cinnamon and ground cardamom, two parts to one to one. A half teaspoon per mug does the job. It keeps for about 3 months.
Stepan’s Rule: a spice that “tastes like the real thing” is usually one spice doing the heavy lifting. Find which one, keep it, drop the pepper.
Not medical advice. I’m a patient sharing what works in my own kitchen. Tolerances vary per person.
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