AI-generated image
Zanzibar spiced tea (chai ya viungo)
Home-roasted spice island tea masala and the black tea made with it
Zanzibar is the spice island, and chai ya viungo is its everyday tea: black tea boiled with a home-roasted masala of cardamom, dry ginger, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. The masala keeps for months in an airtight jar. Milk is optional; serve the tea hot.
- Total time
- 35 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 3
Ingredients
For the tea masala (makes about 350 g)
For 3 cups of tea
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Roast 3 ½ oz green cardamom pods, 1 ¾ oz dry ginger pieces, 1 ¾ oz black peppercorns, 1 ¾ oz cloves, 1 ¾ oz cinnamon sticks and 1 ¾ oz whole nutmeg in a heavy pan on a low heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring often.
18 minStep 2: When cool, grind to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.
Step 3: To make the tea, bring 3 ¼ cups water to the boil with 3 tsp black tea leaves, 1 teaspoon of the tea masala and 3 tsp sugar and let it boil for a few minutes.
5 minStep 4: Add ½ cup milk if you like and bring back to the boil.
Step 5: Strain and serve hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 35 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 8 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does zanzibar spiced tea (chai ya viungo) take?
- About 35 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 3 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of green cardamom pods?
- A pinch of ground cardamom per 2 pods.
- What can I use instead of black peppercorns?
- Ground black pepper, a little less than the amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Power pack
A sweet, energising juice of apples, pears and kiwi fruit with a stick of celery, all used unpeeled for extra goodness. It's naturally sweet, so it needs no sugar. Serve well chilled.
Guava delight
A thick, fragrant blend of ripe guava, mango and banana, boosted with a spoonful of guava powder from the health shop. The book calls it a modern-day vitality drink, drawing on guava's long use in traditional Indian medicine. Serve it well chilled; sieve it if you don't like the little guava seeds.
Coastal Mombasa mix
A Mombasa street-food bowl: chickpeas and potato simmered in coconut milk with raw mango and chilli, ladled into small bowls and topped with crisp lentil fritters, crunchy chevdo and red, green and tamarind chutneys. Make the fritters and chevdo ahead and assemble at the table. It's sweet, sour, hot and crunchy all at once.
