"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
> Indian ex-Hub and his whole extended family did this: Crack a cardi
> pod/person, add (in a pot on stove) to half cup water per person. Bring
> to a boil, add healthy "pinch" (between thumb and three fingers) bulk
> Indian tea (they seemed to like the bulk boxes of Green Label or Red
> Label...I found the Yellow label just fine, too...all these are at
> Indian markets). and bring to a rolling boil. Add whole milk, about 1/4
> per person, and plenty of sugar, bring to a rolling boil to change the
> nature of the milk and strain and serve immediately.
> HTH
> blacksalt

This sounds right, according to what my Indian friends (first generation)
do. They taught me to whack the cardomom pods a few times in a mortar and
pestle - you should be able to smell the aroma strongly - then throw into
water, boil, add a LOT of embarassingly cheap black tea (about 3 tbsp for 2
cups), throw in lots of sugar (masala tea is wonderfully rich and sweet) and
add evaporated milk to make it really creamy (you can substitute whole milk
I guess). Boil it up then turn off the fire and let it steep for a while.
Strain the mixture through a fine seive into your cup.

It's not a gourmet drink, and it shouldn't cost a lot. I'm shocked that the
first poster's cardomon pods cost so much - they are really cheap here in SE
Asia. Try Indian or Asian food stores? And you needn't use Darjeeling tea or
anything fancy, like I said before.

Something to be thankful about, I guess - I can't afford to buy an imported
vanilla bean here :-(.