How to make Chai tea?

-A small pot

-A tea strainer (or some other wire mesh strainer)

-Chai Tea Leaves - these are a special type of strong tea leaf where the tea leaves are cured in a way whichs causes them to curl up into a ball. These can easily be found at your local Indo/Pak grocery store for around $3-6/box (enough to last more than a year of daily tea making). They look a lot like peppercorns in the image I posted. Some common brands are Taj Mahal and Red Label.

Milk - whole milk tastes better but skim is acceptable

-Sweetener - take your pick. You can use pretty much anything which can provide sweetness and withstand the heat. You can use sugar, brown sugar, molasses, Splenda, jaggery (a type of unprocessed brown sugar block commonly used in rural India) or any other sweeter of your choice.

-Spices - The spices used in chai vary greatly depending on the region and how complex or simple you want to make it. The spices used vary from rose to salt to fennel seeds and more. For a simple route to a more complex chai; you can purchase a Masala Chai Spice mix at most Indo/Pak. In this instructable we will be making a more simple homemade version so we will be using either ginger root or cardamom (green or black is acceptable). The cardamom (like most other spices) can be purchased pretty inexpensively once again from your local Indo/Pak grocery store, especially in comparison to the cost of spices at American grocery stores. Do not substitute cadamom powder, it doesn't have near the flavor and it won't strain out as nicely.