I hear the term chai tea a lot these days. But folks, chai means tea and tea means chai. When you say chai tea, it literally means “tea tea.” So either say chai or tea. :-) A humble request from me. Thanks. I love my filter coffee, and my day starts with filter coffee. Being a South Indian, that doesn’t come as a surprise. ( But the surprising fact is I don’t have a filter coffee post on my blog, and I will be updating it soon with a video. So stay tuned. ) Let’s stick to our topic tea. Tea is one of the popular beverages in India and also around the whole world. According to Wikipedia, tea was first introduced into India by the British in an attempt to break the Chinese monopoly on tea. Tea was planted initially in Assam and then in Darjeeling, and then it spread across in the South as well. Now we have our own traditional tea, and India is one of the largest tea producers.
Tea Condiments:
I started drinking tea during my undergrad days. In the evenings, we used to get only tea in our hostel. So that’s how I started drinking tea. I got this routine of drinking coffee in the morning and tea in the evening. Amma usually adds tulsi leaves (fresh or dried) and ginger to tea and sometimes cardamom. I was under the impression that we only add ginger and cardamom to tea for a long time. But when I came to the US and started relishing our friends’ tea, I realized how wrong I was about tea condiments. Oh boy, there are so many condiments that we can add to tea to enhance its flavors. Some of the new condiments that I started to add in our tea are fennel seeds, lemongrass, mint leaves, dried hibiscus, etc.
Rose Buds in Tea:
This summer I met some of my blogger friends and Priya who blogs at I Camp in my Kitchen gifted some amazing dried herbs like rosebuds, hibiscus, and lavender. She got it all the way from Dubai. And I am using the dried rosebud for this chai. You can also use good quality edible dried rose petals instead of rosebuds for this rose tea. 10 petals would be good for this measure. Like how you can add different condiments to your tea, you can make tea in zillion ways. Right from boiling water and adding tea and milk-water proportion, adding condiments every family has their own recipe. I have shared what we like and how I make here.
Why Instant Pot Dum Chai?
I can hear you asking this question. Let me answer that first before the recipe and video. I love making tea on the stove-top. There is no doubt about it. I love the fragrance of tea brewing, along with the condiments. During weekdays, I make tea only for myself and that too in the evening. Back then, with the toddler around and with all his classes, I started making mug tea in the microwave.
Microwave Tea –
I buy tea bags with different flavors. I microwave ½ cup of water for 1 minute and then steep in the tea bag and let it brew. After about two minutes or so, I discard the tea bag and add milk and sugar and microwave it again. That’s it. When Instant Pot became popular, the Instant Pot tea became quite popular as well. I tried it as well. You don’t need to supervise(hands-free), and as you let the pressure release naturally, there is no need to check-in between either. I liked it, but I was resorting to my microwave method until I had to live without it. :-) As I mentioned in the meal planner post, we are remodeling our kitchen and living room, and I don’t have all my appliances. I am managing with two Instant Pots and one induction stove. So I started making tea in Instant Pot again and realized how the flavors were so intense. I posted a small video both on my Instagram and Reddit, and to my surprise, everyone liked it and tried. So, I decided to document it on my blog as well.
Instant Pot Dum Chai Video –
Check out my detailed dum chai video here.
Accessories Required for PIP Tea –
Tall Trivet Accessory kit that I have
How to Make Cardamom and Rose Tea in Instant Pot / Pot in Pot Dum Chai:
I don’t make tea directly in the inner pot of the Instant Pot and I always use pot in pot method. I have tried this tea in both 3-quart and 6-quart, and both come out really well. Check the notes on how to make tea in the pressure cooker. This is what you need for making the tea. Tea powder, milk, water, sugar, and condiments of your choice.
Make sure you take a tall vessel that fits well inside the instant pot when placed on a trivet. In that bowl, first add the tea, sugar, dried rosebud, and crushed green cardamom. Peeling off few petals enhances the flavor further.
Next, add the milk and water. Mix it nicely.
Add 1 cup of water to the inner pot and place the trivet and then place the tea vessel.
Pressure cook this for 3 minutes at high-pressure mode and let the pressure release naturally. Milk doesn’t curdle or anything. Please check the video. Open the Instant Pot, strain the tea.
Enjoy the hands-free hot tea. I served it with store-bought rusk. But you can always serve it with any biscotti or boiled peanut salad or spicy puffed rice or lotus seeds.
Things to Note While Making Tea in Instant Pot-
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📖 Recipe
Other Tea Recipes from my Blog Archives-
Matcha Green Tea Latte Thai Iced Tea Green Tea Spritzer Iced Fusion Tea
