Karak Chai Recipe
Make rich and creamy Karak Chai at home with this easy 10-minute Dubai-style recipe. Bold tea flavor, cardamom aroma, and perfect caramel color — just like UAE street cafés. No condensed milk needed!
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Servings: 2 Persons
Calories: 200kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups Milk Fresh full-fat milk
- ½ cup Evaporated Milk add rich and creamy texture
- 1 tablespoon Black Tea Loose black tea, substitute: tea bags
- 1 teaspoon Sugar To Taste (optional)
- 5 Cardamom Pods For signature aroma
Instructions
Infuse the Milk
- In a medium-sized saucepan, pour in the milk and add the coarsely crushed green cardamom pods. Turn the heat to medium and bring the milk to a gentle boil.
- Let it simmer for 2–3 minutes, stirring frequently. This continuous stirring helps develop that signature creamy, frothy texture that Karak tea is known for.
Add Black Tea
- Once the milk becomes fragrant and lightly foamy, sprinkle in the black tea.
- Keep stirring so the tea infuses evenly and the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom. Within a minute, you’ll notice the color shifting to a warm caramel-brown.
Sweeten the Tea
- Add sugar to taste. You can adjust the sweetness based on your preference—or completely skip it if you prefer a sugar-free cup.Give it a good mix to ensure the sugar dissolves completely.
Pour Evaporated Milk
- Now stir in the evaporated milk. This is what gives Karak chai its deep richness and café-style creaminess.Let it simmer for another minute, stirring continuously to blend all the flavors.
Strain & Serve
- Use a fine mesh strainer, carefully strain the tea into your serving teapot or directly into cups. This removes the loose tea and cardamom, leaving a smooth, velvety chai.
- Serve the hot cup of tea with biscuits, cookies or savory snacks.
Notes
- Create the creamy consistency according to your preferred taste. If you want an exceptionally creamy texture, stick to using only evaporated milk.
- To balance the flavor of evaporated milk, mix it with fresh milk. This combination will provide you with an ideal taste along with a delightful strong tea fragrance.
- While you can mix evaporated milk with water, it's not the best choice. It tends to compromise both the creamy texture and the flavor of the tea.
- For a distinct Middle Eastern flavor in your tea, use only green cardamom.
- If you want to make more cups, simply adjust the ingredients accordingly.
- This recipe is designed to yield 2 medium-sized cups.
- You can also incorporate saffron strands for added flavor. It's an excellent choice for winter tea.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 200kcal
