Masala Chai - where to buy?

[Rabbit]

Can anyone recommend a place (downtown core) to buy a spice mix for masala chai? I would like to try making Indian tea at home, but am still unsure about sourcing ingredients.

And is there anything in particular that I should look for, or are these mixes created more-or-less equal?

Thanks -
Rabbit

[BuggySer]

I was just thinking about it, you'd probably get the loose leaves at a tea store or maybe a bulk store...

[jcanncuk]

Ummm, why not just make it - for 4 cups of water, add 3-4 tsp (using a teaspoon, not an exact measurement) of tea (good Assam or Darjeeling), 2 whole cardamon pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 whole clove, and 2 peppercorns. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and let steep for about 5 minutes. Add milk and honey to taste. Strain into cups and enjoy! Adjust the spices for the ones you like, but I find this to be pretty balanced.

[xtal]

The Big Carrot has several varieties, but I still prefer getting ingredients from Gerrard East or Kensington and making it myself.

[dannyboy]

i bought the pc chai in the tin and it really is quite good, it is loose leaf just make sure you give it a good shake

[Wench Foraday]

I second this rec, especially since it is easily available. Also the advice to shake up the tin is a good one :) Otherwise you get a big hit of either spices or caffeine.

I have also tried the chai from the Tea Emporium and it is excellent as well, perhaps a bit softer than the PC Chai.

[BuggySer]

You can also just buy cardamom pods at the supermarket as well as cinnamon sticks. Crush teh cardamom seeds in the pods, put a pot of milk with a teabag to heat on the stove top adn add teh crushed cardamom as well as the cinnamon stick. Heat until the tea brews (stir...it is hot milk, so don't let it boil over or burn at the bottom) and then sweeten to taste with sugar (or honey or Splenda...whatever you use). Strain into cups and you have a really simple masala chai tea....

[foodyDudey]

It's easy to make masala chai at home if you have the right ingredients. You can buy them in the Indian area on Gerrard St.

There are many recipes on the internet, just Google "masala chai". Here are a few:

http://www.culinaryteas.com/Masala_Chai.html
http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/healthy/277
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Masala_Chai
http://cardamomaddict.blogspot.com/20...

[Yongeman]

I've seen it in the spice store in Thorncliff. I forget the name, but it's up the street north off Thorncliff.