Cardamom Chai or Elaichi Chai is a refreshing Indian tea made with black tea, milk, freshly crushed cardamom and sugar. It uses only cardamom to delicately fragrance the creamy tea.

Cardamom chai recipe served in two cups.

I love Indian tea in all its wondrous varieties. Karak chai, masala chai, Indian ginger tea (adrak chai) and this cardamom tea recipe all have their moments of glory in our household.

Cardamom Chai is a rich drink and is flavoured only with cardamom. I love this tea because you get the full effect of the cardamom without any interference of other spices.

Where to use Cardamom Chai

Cardamom Chai is so versatile and goes great in other recipes.

We love using Cardamom Chai in our Chai Peda

Or why not treat yourself to Cardamom Chai Kulfi in the Summer?

We want very thick and creamy cardamom chai for these recipes so make sure you use whole milk to make the tea with very little water!

Ingredients for Cardamom Chai Tea

Cardamom chai ingredients arranged and labeled - milk, cardamom pods, sugar, water and loose black tea leaves.

Cardamom - use fresh green cardamom pods for the best flavour. Ground cardamom or cardamom seeds will not give the same great taste.

Black Tea - we have used loose leaf tea but you can also use black tea bags.

Milk - use milk with a higher fat percentage such as whole milk for the creamiest tea. For a non dairy version, oat milk is super creamy.

Sugar - we have used white granulated sugar but you can use brown sugar.

How to make Indian Cardamom Tea

Follow the step by step instructions below for the best Elaichi Chaa or Elaichi wali chai.

First crush the cardamom pods using a pestle and mortar, if not using cardamom powder.

Add crushed cardamom to a milk pan.

Then add black loose tea along with water.

crushed cardamom in the bowl to add in cardamom chai

crushed cardamom and loose black tea in the pan to make cardamom tea

Allow the water to boil and let the water reduce a little.

Add milk and sugar.

Allow milk to boil and tea to cook for approx. 5 mins on medium heat.

milk added to the boiling black tea water to make Indian cardamom tea

a female hand is adding sugar to the elychi wali chai

Strain using a fine strainer into the serving cups.

Enjoy hot.

cardamom chai is being straind using a tea strainer

cardamom tea served in a tea cup and saucer

cardamom chai tea cups on the table next to small tea spoons.

Serving Suggestions

Cardamom chai is wonderful on its own but a sweet treat alongside takes it to another level! The perfect pairing is definitely nankhatai or cashew amaranth cookies.

For an Indian afternoon tea, serve with pistachio cupcakes with saffron frosting or saffron milk cookie sticks.

Chai also goes great with savoury Indian parathas. For breakfast or brunch pair cardamom chai with gujarati bhakhri or kathiyawadi methi thepla.

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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