Masala chai

I am hooked. This is absolutely the best way to kick-start the afternoon.

Tea for two:

Four black peppercorns
Three cloves
Three green cardamom pods
Two inches of cinnamon stick
A thumb-sized chunk of ginger, hotter the better, thinly sliced
Loose black tea - two persons worth, or just tear open two tea bags
Fresh milk, condensed milk
Dessert spoon sugar
Water

Lightly crush the peppercorns, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and ginger in a mortar and pestle or with a rolling pin - you may want to 'toast' or dry-fry the ginger briefly before slicing as well.

Add the mix with the tea to a pan with two glasses of water, or substitute one glass of water for fresh milk if you want it milky and less spicy.

Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Add a few teaspoons of condensed milk and sugar to taste - chai should be sweet as well as spicy. Don't worry about leaving the chai to steep for a long time. Many chai stalls in India have pans bubbling away all day.

When the chai is ready, pour through a sieve into a jug, then pour into glasses - try and get as much height between the jug and the glass while pouring as you can to froth the chai up.

You might want to use more black pepper, more ginger, more cloves or more of anything you want until you get the taste you like. I've had chai in India that was peppery enough to blow steam out of my ears. One chai is never the same as the next.