Journey of the Heart Chai

Chai as an art that must be discovered. Ingredients are the map but the combination is your own journey. This is the secret intention of the heart.

Today, we explore a wealth of different items that can be added to a basic chai recipe to vary the flavour combinations to your heart’s content.

There are more variations for Chai here: Indian Chai Variations.

Similar recipes include Tim’s Chai, Garam Chai, and Heavenly Gentle Chai.

You can browse all of our Chai recipes, all of our Indian dishes, and our Indian Essentials series. Or settle back and enjoy our Early Spring collection of recipes.

The Ultimate Cooler – Pineapple Juice with Strawberries, Coconut and Lime

Our weather this year has seen bees and koalas dying in the heat, and tiny fruit forming drop from the trees. It has been a wicked Summer. For the first time ever I am without coriander leaves as they have burnt to a crisp.

In the heat of the Summer one of our favourite coolers is a pineapple based drink with citrus and strawberries, finished off with cooling coconut milk. I like it in the evenings with a touch of alcohol too. We rarely drink alcohol, it is just our preference, but this is one drink that will tempt me on a 40C+ day.

Similar drinks include Tamarind Summer Cooler, Roasted Green Mango Drink, and Ginger Cooler.

Browse all of our Coolers and all of our Drinks. Or explore our Late Summer recipes.

Juice It! | Unusual Home Made Juices

Summer in our house is partly defined by what we drink. Teas, iced teas (infusions), juices, lassi drinks, & range of coolers. Our juices are made with a cold press juicer, and we use both fruit and vegetables.

Cold press juicers are not great at handling fibrous vegetables, so more often than not we will blitz them in the food processor or blender before putting them through the juicer. It is a bit of effort but the results are worth it – sparkling fresh, great tasting, healthy juices. We have them straight from the juicer, but they can also be served over ice or chilled in the fridge. If they do sit for some time after juicing, you may need to give them a good stir before drinking.

Here are a number of unusual but interesting and healthy juices to try. Great in Spring, Summer and Autumn. I will normally add a lemon wedge and a knob of ginger to all juices.

Similar recipes include Beetroot Juices, and Apple Juices.

Browse all of our Juices, our Teas and all of our Coolers. Or explore all of our Mid Summer dishes.

Indian Spiced Teas (Infusions) for Good Health

We love iced spiced infusions in Summer and hot, warming infusions in Winter. We call them Teas, even Herbal Teas, but there is hardly a herb in site in these, and there are no tea leaves to be found. In India, any label that includes “Tea” indicates the presence of tea leaves, so to call an infusion a tea is very confusing there. Here, we call anything that is infused and sipped a tea.

These infusions can be consumed hot or chilled over ice. As I write it is 42C here in down town outer Adelaide. We have a spice mix infusing in the large tea pot. When it is cool it will be refrigerated and served over ice in the heat of the afternoon. It might be garnished with lemon slices and lemon verbena leaves, or maybe mint leaves.

The thing about spiced infusions is that they do have Ayurvedic properties. I have listed doshas here, but if you haven’t heard of doshas, then ignore them and just enjoy the spice combinations. Please note that I am not am Ayurvedic practitioner, so if you need health advice, please consult a professional.

I collect recipes for different Ayurvedic infusions and chai – these are ones that I’ve come across recently.

Similar recipes include Tulsi Tea, Ginger Cooler, and CCF Tea.

You can see our Ayurvedic related posts here, and all of our teas and infusions here. Or browse our recipes for hot, Mid Summer weather.

Tamarind Summer Cooler

Another great Summer Cooler is made with tamarind – that sweet-sour and ubiquitous Indian souring agent. If you can find fresh tamarind, go the whole way and make your own tamarind paste – it is worth the effort.

The tamarind paste is mixed with sugar syrup and tasted to get the perfect balance of sweet and sour. In the photo, we have also used dried barberries that have soaked in the sugar syrup. Not only do they look festive, they also have a delightful sweet-sour flavour that compliments the drink very well.

It is interesting how tamarind coolers feature around the world, from the Nam Makham of Thailand to the Agua Fresca de Tamarindo from Mexico.

Similar recipes include The Ultimate Pineapple Juice and Coconut Cooler, Ginger Cooler, Pandan Cooler, and Jal Jeera.

You might like to read 40 of our Best Coolers for Summer.

Browse all of our Coolers and Indian Drinks. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Mid Summer recipes.

Juice It! | Home Made Strawberry-Based Juices and Blueberry-Based Juices

Spring and Summer mean strawberries and blueberries, and often they are so cheap that it is worth grabbing several punnets when shopping.  Ok, blueberries are never cheap, but sometimes they are cheaper. Both make great icecreams, jams, frappe, lassis and smoothies. And they are wonderful juiced.

Enjoy the juice combinations below. Similar recipes include Zucchini Juice, Green Tea, Apple and Strawberry Juice, and Watermelon Juice with Mint and Ginger.

Browse all of our Juices and our Cooling Summer Drinks. Or browse all of our our Early Spring recipes.

Juice It! | Home Made Apple-Based Juices

It is nearly Spring time, the garden is blooming (my first ever daffodils are flowering), and we have started juicing our own drinks again. We love to have home-made juices through Spring to Autumn.

While the apples are at their best, they are especially suited to late Winter and early Spring juices, providing a sweet base for many different combinations.

In the suggestions below, we don’t include quantities. My rule of thumb is – 2 large apples plus your combination fruit and vegetables will a little water to dilute the intensity of the flavours, will make 3 – 4 glasses. Enough for breakfast for a small – medium family.

In case you are wondering, I use Harom, a cold press juicer, but any juicer will make great drinks. I love cold press juicers because of the way that they extract the juice and the drinks are not as frothy as when you use a centrifugal juicer. It is also said that cold pressed juices are more nutrient dense than those produced with a centrifugal juicer. However the cold press ones do not handle greens or stringy vegetables such as celery as well as the centrifugal ones.

You can also make fruit juices in your High Speed Blender. I use a Vitamix. Simply blend the fruit for 2 or so minutes with a little water, then strain the juice as your pour it into a jug or into glasses. (I am not sponsored in any way by Vitamix or Harom.)

Enjoy the juice combinations below. Similar recipes include Strawberry and Blueberry Juices, Beetroot Based Juices, Zucchini Juice, Green Tea, Apple and Strawberry Juice, and Watermelon Juice with Mint and Ginger.

Browse all of our Juices and our Cooling Summer Drinks. Or browse all of our our Early Spring recipes.

Masala Chai with Tulsi, Ginger and Cardamom

The varieties of Chai are seemingly endless, and here is another one, incorporating the beautiful Tulsi herb. Tulsi is available as a plant from some nurseries and Indian shops, or dried leaves can be bought as tea bags in health and organic shops. If you can’t find Tulsi, substitute basil.

Are you after other Chai recipes? Try Journey of the Heart Chai, Heavenly Chai, Ashram Chai, and Yogi Chai. Have a look at other Masala Chai recipes.

Or browse all of our Chai recipes, and all of Teas and Coffees Recipes. You can explore our Indian recipes. Or simply work through our Late Summer dishes.

Tulsi ka Sherbet | Iced Tulsi Tea

What a powerhouse herb Tulsi is, everyone should have a plant or at least dried leaves in their pantry. We have a few recipes featuring it, and today, another one. An iced tea for the hottest of weathers. We have 40C days in Summer, sometimes hotter, so our minds will be on cooling drinks for afternoons under the grapevines.

Similar recipes include Tulsi, Mint and Lemon Verbena Tea, Tulsi and Mint Chai with Cinnamon, and Ginger and Tulsi Tea.

Browse all of our Tulsi recipes, and all of our Indian Coolers. All of our Indian recipes are here, and the Indian Essentials Series is here. Or explore our Early Summer dishes.

Tulsi Chai

For this chai, use the leaves of either the Ram Tulsi or the Krishna Tulsi (Tree Tulsi or Red/Shyama Tulsi).  If you don’t have access to fresh tulsi you can also purchase Tulsi teabags in health shops, or use sweet basil or perennial basil leaves.  I have even included some Thai Basil in this Chai. Surprisingly, these also taste very good and are relaxing. But use Tulsi if you can, it has many health benefits.

Are you looking for other Chai recipes? Try Masala Chai with Tulsi, Ginger and Cardamom, Chai Masala, Peppery Chai, and Ashram Chai.

Browse all of our Chai recipes, or all of our Drinks and Teas. All of our Indian dishes are here. Or enjoy exploring our Late Autumn dishes.