Black tea (CTC granules or dust)
चाय पत्ती
Pantry
The base of chai, boiled rather than steeped. Fine dust gives colour and strength quickly; CTC granules brew slower and taste rounder.
What to know
Chai is a decoction, not an infusion — the leaf sits in boiling liquid, so tannin keeps coming out the whole time it is on the heat. That is where the bite in café chai comes from, and why a pan left simmering past its time turns harsh.
- Choosing it
- Dust for strength and colour, leaf grades for aroma. A strong Assam CTC is what most chai wants; Darjeeling and the lighter teas are lost under milk.
- Storing it
- Airtight and nowhere near the spice box — tea takes up whatever it is stored beside. It does not spoil so much as go flat, over a few months of an opened packet.
Measures
- 1 tsp ≈ 2.5 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 7.5 g
Cups here are the Indian 200 ml cup, not the 240 ml US cup — a common reason a recipe does not work. Weigh where you can; the grams are the figure we cook to.
Recipes using black tea
None published yet.