Chai is a western term for a sweet spiced tea from India, where it is known as Masala Chai (literally "spiced tea"). Masala Chai is a beverage from the Indian subcontinent made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian herbs and spices. Masala is the Hindi word for a mixture of spices, and chai is the Hindi word for tea.
The perfect chai was cooked by the third group, the one that Tao was in. Luckily, they had an Indian lady who cooks chai at home at least twice a week for her kids. Tasting this chai totally changed changed Tao's mind about chai; he never thought it could be so tasty and fragrant. On that night, they used the typical chai tea ingredients: 2 cinnamon sticks, 9 cloves, 7 black peppercorns (or red or white of Australian native), 9 green cardamoms, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and 1 knob of ginger (dried/fresh). She didn’t follow the ingredients; she used the spices, but without black peppercorns, and she didn’t use the exact proportions. She explained that the recipe it depends on personal taste, and she used the same ingredients for her kids, who like it tasty, but not too strong.
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