This is an adaptation of my favorite cooked chai recipe from The Ayurvedic Cookbook by Amadea Morningstar. I fell in love with this chai from the first time I made it and now those chai drinks from the coffee shops just don’t cut it!! I just tried this raw version for the first time this morning and I could have finished the whole thing off straight from the blender!!! It takes longer to make because the mint needs to be soaked in the water like a sun tea but it is definitely worth it! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
3 cup water
10 mint leaves (I like spearmint)
3 cup nut milk (almond, walnut, etc.)
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
¼ teaspoon ground
cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
½ cup raw honey or
agave, (you may want to use less)
Begin by placing mint leaves in the 3 cups of water and let sit in a warm, sunny location for a few hours. (If you don’t have any nut milk prepared, now is a good time to soak 1 cup of nuts so that you can make the milk and the chai at the same time.)
When the mint has soaked for a few hours, prepare your nut milk and strain. Return nut milk to blender. remove the mint leaves from water and save for another use, adding the 3 cups of mint water to the blender with your nut milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend for 1-2 minutes to help the flavors “marry”.
Serve over ice, or, if your blender can handle ice crushing, add the ice to the chai and blend to make a chai smoothie. Yum, yum, yum. Try not to drink it all in one sitting. :-)
