Ginger Chai Recipe (Adrak wali Chai)
Ginger Chai (Adrak Wali Chai) is a deeply warming, aromatic Indian tea brewed with fresh ginger, milk, and loose-leaf black tea. This hot and comforting drink is perfect to sip on cold monsoon or winter days. Make this sweet, milky, and spicy chai in under 10 minutes using my easy recipe.
Here are some more tea recipes you might like: Kahwa, Masala Chai, Irani Chai, Lemongrass Chai, Turmeric Ginger Tea, and Saffron Tea.
A Quick Look At This Ginger Tea Recipe
- Flavor Profile: Bold, spicy, and soothing — a fragrant Indian tea infused with the warmth of fresh ginger and aromatic cardamom.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Serves: 2
- Cuisine: Indian
- Course: Beverage
- Diet: Vegetarian
- Skill Level: Beginner
- Equipment: Saucepan, Tea Strainer, Measuring Cups, Spoon
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Why You’ll Love This Family Favorite Recipe!
- True Indian-style “kadak chai” with full, robust flavor.
- Perfectly balanced — creamy, aromatic, and not too strong.
- Made with simple pantry ingredients.
- Naturally comforting for cold days or sore throats.
- Ready in just 10 minutes and easy to customize. I like mine strong with a higher tea-to-milk ratio for a robust flavor, but you can easily adjust the milk, sweetness, or spice level to make your perfect cup every time.
- A reliable, tested Whisk Affair version that tastes perfect every time.
Table of Contents
About Ginger Chai
Ginger Chai is an Indian-style milk tea spiced with fresh ginger.
Millions of Indians start their day with a cup of hot milky tea, and everyone has their own way of making it. Some make it plain, and some with the addition of spices or other ingredients.
This milk tea with ginger (ginger chai) is a popular version made by adding fresh ginger roots while cooking the tea. It is widely consumed across India for its warming, immune-supporting, and digestive benefits.
You will find many roadside stalls, restaurants, and canteens selling ginger milk tea and snacks.
In this post, I am sharing my recipe for adrak wali chai, which I have been making for years. I like to make it strong with a low milk-to-water ratio. Everyone who has tasted my tea has loved it. Do give it a try!
Ingredients
This Indian ginger and milk tea is made using 4 simple ingredients. You will need fresh ginger roots, black tea leaves, sugar, and milk (and water).
Try to buy organic ginger from an Indian grocery store as the taste of Indian ginger is much potent than the American variety.
Use the best quality tea leaves to make ginger milk tea. Assam tea or Darjeeling tea works best. I use Tata Tea Gold brand tea leaves. It is available in most Indian grocery stores. Other tea brands like Wagh Bakri, Tajmahal, etc, are also good.
You can also add ½ teaspoon of dried ginger powder to this recipe, as both fresh and dried ginger have distinct flavors.
I use whole milk (full-fat milk) to make ginger chai. I use a lower milk-to-water ratio, and using whole milk keeps my tea from being watery. However, you can use skim or low-fat milk in this recipe if you have it on hand. Just increase its quantity a little bit.
You can adjust the sugar as per your taste.
To make ginger masala tea, add ½ teaspoon of my chai masala powder to this recipe. If chai masala is unavailable, then crush some cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, star anise, green cardamom pods, and fennel seeds, and add these aromatic spices along with spicy ginger.
How To Make Adrak Wali Chai
Step 1: Heat 2 cups of water in a pan over medium-high heat.
Step 2: Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add 4 teaspoon of peeled and grated ginger to the pan. You can also crush the ginger in a mortar and pestle instead of grating.
Step 3: Reduce the heat to low and let the water simmer for 2 minutes. This step will ensure all the flavors from the ginger are infused into the water.
Step 4: Add 2 teaspoon of black tea leaves and 2 teaspoon of sugar, and simmer for a minute. Do not simmer for long after adding the tea leaves; otherwise, the tea may become bitter.
Step 5: Now add 4 tablespoon of whole milk and mix well.
Step 6: Increase the heat to medium-high and let the tea boil for another 2 minutes.
Step 7: Strain into 2 tea cups using a tea strainer (fine-mesh strainer) and serve immediately.
Pro Tips By Neha
Add the milk only once the water and ginger have boiled nicely. If you add it beforehand, the milk might curdle due to ginger’s acidic nature.
Use a fine-mesh strainer to strain the ginger chai; otherwise, the tea powder will end up in your cup, which is not a good idea.
Variations
You can increase the amount of ginger if you like a stronger ginger flavor. You can also add ½ teaspoon of dried ginger powder.
You can also add a pod of crushed cardamom, 1-2 crushed cloves, and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg powder to your adrak chai recipe to elevate the taste. Adding these spices is also great when you have a cold. You can also add a little tulsi and turmeric powder if making this tea when you have a cold.
You can add more milk to the ginger milk tea recipe if you like a milkier tea. I like my tea very strong and less milky; hence, I always use less milk in my recipe.
Make it sugar-free or use stevia instead of sugar.
To make the tea vegan, use any plant-based milk, such as soy, almond, or cashew.
Ginger Chai FAQs
Yes, you can. For every 1 teaspoon of black tea powder, use 1 tea bag.
Yes, you can. Use 1 teaspoon of milk powder for every 2 tablespoon of whole milk. You can increase this amount if you like your tea milky.
In India, ginger often comes with a lot of mud attached. However much you wash it, some of the mud still remains attached to the skip. So, peeling the ginger skin is very important to prevent infection. However, in the US, ginger is fairly clean, so if you rinse it well, you can skip peeling it.
Yes, you can. Skip adding milk to the recipe.
It is recommended to make this tea fresh, but if you have leftover, you can store them in an airtight container for upto a day. Reheat over medium-low heat until the tea is fully warmed, then reserve.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve a piping-hot cup of this ginger milk tea on its own or with snacks such as Bread Pakoda, Onion Pakoda, Palak Pakoda, Sooji Dhokla, Samosa, etc.
You can serve it with biscuits, namak para, toast, khari, or other such munchies.
I always have a cup of adrak wali chai with Aloo Paratha, Egg Bhurji Paratha, or even Tawa Paratha, with Mango Pickle and Bhujia.
Other Indian Drink Recipes We Recommend
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Ginger Chai Recipe (Adrak Wali Chai)
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 4 teaspoons peeled and grated ginger (you can also crush the ginger in a mortar and pestle instead of grating)
- 2 teaspoons black tea leaves
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 4 tablespoons whole milk (full-fat milk)
Instructions
- Heat water in a pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the water comes to a boil, add ginger to the pan.
- Reduce the heat to low and let the water simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add tea leaves and sugar and simmer for a minute. Do not simmer for long after adding the tea leaves; otherwise, the tea may become bitter.
- Now add milk and mix well.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and let the tea boil for another 2 minutes.
- Strain in tea cups using a tea strainer and serve immediately.
This is so yum!! Just made it on a cold winter day for my mum and myself. It’s really convenient and inventive, I can add different spices and milk with it or change the amount of ginger depending on the flavour or spice I am after. Thank you!
Hi is there specific ginger that’s good for bowel movement.i have tried mango ginger root and it doesn’t work , the leaner ones work fantastically.
The regular Indian ginger is what I use and it suit me perfectly. You will have to give it a try to know if it suits your body too.
Ginger Tea is literally bae 😀 .. Be it a harsh summer or a winter a cup or more of ginger tea is a must. Try putting few mint leaves when you boil the water. It tastes just brilliant 🙂
That’s a nice idea. Will try it 🙂
Just had my cuppa.. Like it really spicy so a lot more ginger goes in. I also have a spice mix of Nutmeg, mace, cardamom which just a pinch addded to boiling water wt ginger gives some beautiful flavors n smell.
Awesome 🙂
I like adrak chai so much that I can have it anytime. even if its summer time and someone offer me adrak chai I am ready to go for it.