We've been having proper Chai every weekend when we are home and by proper, I mean making it using Chai spices rather than using a Chai teabag. Here's my Chai Recipe if you are interested. Since we don't have the luxury of having a stove at work, making chai using a teabag would suffice during the week.
This weekend, we made it again but I also felt like having some banana oat muffins so I thought why not combine the flavours of chai into the muffin and the outcome was just splendid! The Chai spiced muffin went well with a cup of freshly brewed chai and we loved it! However, I'm not too sure if it's to everyone's liking as it might just cause a chai overdose of sorts!
I adapted this recipe from Gordon Ramsay Healthy Appetite, one that I use all the time as it always results in moist muffins.
Makes 12 muffins.
Ingredients
100g Oats
200g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
100g light brown sugar
4 large ripe bananas
1 large egg
60g light olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp all spice
1 tsp ground ginger
Method
Heat oven to 180 deg C/Gas4.
Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and spices.
Mix well and make a well in the centre.
Mash bananas in another bowl.
Stir in beaten egg and light olive oil.
Add to dry mixture and fold through until combined. Don't overmix.
Spoon into paper cases and bake for 20-25 mins until brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Even though it's suppose to be summer, the weather has been cold and gloomy so it feels more like autumn somehow. Having lived in the UK for almost 5 years, I should probably have already gotten used to the erratic weather. It sometimes snows in April and Oct. I've encountered rain, hail, snow, bright sunshine all in a day. Weather that alternates between heavy rain and bright sunshine every hour. I should have gotten used to it by now but somehow I haven't, just like lots of people over here. I now understand why the British like talking about the weather so much as it's really something you'll have to experience before believing.
So on days when it's cold, nothing warms me up better than a nice cup of Chai(spiced tea). Chai originates from India and every household have their very own special recipes so after going looking through quite a few, I came up with this version that may be a little more gingery then the norm so feel free to adjust the spices according to your taste
Ingredients:
1 big thumb of ginger (sliced thinly)
10 whole black pepper
1 cinnamon stick
3 green cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 star anise
grating of netmeg
2 black tea bags
1.5 cups water
0.5 cups milk
Sugar to taste
Method:
In a pestle and mortar, crush up the black pepper, cinnamon, fennel seeds, cloves, star anise and cardamom.
Place all the crushed spices, ginger and water in a pot and simmer for 20 mins.
Add milk to the pot, boil for a minute before adding the tea bags and boil for a further 2 mins.
Pour the chai through a sieve, add sugar to taste and enjoy!! :)
