How to Make Kerala Chayakada Chai at Home

To make Kerala chayakada chai at home, boil strong CTC tea in water for 2 to 3 minutes, heat full-fat milk separately, strain the tea over sugar, add the milk, then pour it between two jugs from a height until it foams. The strong separate brew and the pull are what give tea-shop chai its colour, sweetness and froth.

What makes chayakada tea taste different?

• Granular CTC tea. Tea shops use dust or granules, which brew dark and fast. Whole-leaf tea gives a lighter cup.
• Tea and milk heated separately. The tea is boiled in water and kept hot in a cloth strainer or kettle. The milk is heated in its own pot, so it never stews with the leaves.
• Plenty of full-fat milk. Roughly equal parts decoction and milk.
• The pull. Pouring from a height cools the tea to drinking temperature, dissolves the sugar and builds a thick layer of foam.

Ingredients for two glasses

• 1 cup (250 ml) water
• 2 heaped teaspoons strong CTC tea granules or milk tea powder
• 1 cup (250 ml) full-fat milk
• 2 to 3 teaspoons sugar
• Optional: 1 green cardamom pod, lightly crushed

Step-by-step method

1. Brew the decoction. Bring the water to a rolling boil. Add the tea (and the cardamom, if using) and boil on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until it turns a deep red-brown.
2. Heat the milk. In a second pan, heat the milk until it just starts to rise. Take it off the heat.
3. Combine over sugar. Put the sugar in a steel jug or tumbler. Strain the decoction over it, then pour in the hot milk.
4. Pull the tea. Hold the full jug low over an empty one and pour, lifting your hand as the stream settles. Pour back and forth 5 or 6 times, until there's a thick head of foam.
5. Serve straight away in small glasses, before the foam settles.

How do you pull tea without spilling it?

Start with the jugs almost touching and raise the pouring hand slowly, only as far as you can keep the stream landing in the centre. Around 30 cm is plenty at home. Steel jugs with a lip pour cleanly. Mugs with thick rims don't.

If you're nervous, practise once with warm water. And keep the second jug on a plate or tray the first few times.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Weak colour. Use more tea, not a longer boil. Two heaped teaspoons for two glasses is the minimum for this style.
• Flat, stewed taste. This usually comes from boiling the tea leaves in milk for a long time. Brewing in water first keeps the taste bright.
• No foam. The milk was too cool or you poured from too low. Reheat and pull again.
• Too bitter. Boiling the decoction for 5 minutes or more draws out harsh tannins. Stop at 3.
• Old tea. A pack that's been open for months brews dull. Keep tea in a closed tin away from the stove.

Adding cardamom or ginger

For elakka chaya, crush one green cardamom pod and boil it with the tea. Use green cardamom, not the large smoky black kind, which belongs in curries. Our guide to green and black cardamom explains the difference.

For inji chaya, crush a 1 cm piece of fresh ginger and boil it with the tea. Don't add ginger to hot milk on its own, as it can curdle it.

What to eat with it

Pazhampori (banana fritters), parippu vada, or a plain Marie biscuit dipped until it nearly breaks. That's the full chayakada plate.

The tea matters more than anything else in this recipe. Our milk tea powder and black tea granules are both made for strong, milky chai like this.