I made chai buttercream frosting (for pumpkin cupcakes and then reprised for chocolate-spice cupcakes) and chai simple syrup last weekend (for cocktailing). You could say I was on bit of a chai kick.
While working out how to do these things, I did a bit of research on the stuff and learned, to my surprise, that “chai” is actually the word for just “tea” in much of South Asia. What we English speakers usually mean by the word is in fact really called, “masala chai,” and commonly contains cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, allspice, cloves, and the like. (Oh, and sugar — how could I forget?)
You learn something new every day, I guess.
