Ginger Chai Recipe (Adrak wali Chai) – Bold, Warming & Ready in 10 Minutes
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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.
Table of Contents
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 add 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.
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, and everyone who has tasted it loves it. My secret? More ginger than you think, good loose-leaf tea, and a proper boil that coaxes every bit of flavor out of the ingredients.
This recipe walks you through every step, including the ratios I have tested over years so you get it perfect the first time. Do give it a try!
What Is Ginger Chai?
Ginger chai (Adrak chai in Hindi) is a spiced Indian tea brewed by simmering fresh ginger with strong black tea, whole milk, and sugar.
The word adrak means ginger in Hindi, and chai simply means tea. Adrak chai is the most widely consumed everyday beverage across the Indian subcontinent; brewed at home, sold by street-side vendors (chaiwalas), and served at every tea stall from Mumbai to Delhi.
Unlike green tea or herbal ginger infusions, ginger chai uses a black tea base (typically CTC Assam or Darjeeling) combined with dairy milk and spices. The result is a rich, creamy, slightly spicy cup with a warming aftertaste that lingers long after the last sip.
Why You’ll Love This Family Favorite Recipe!
Most ginger chai recipes give you weak, milky tea with barely a whisper of ginger. This one doesn’t. Here’s why it stands apart
- True Indian-style “kadak chai” with full, robust flavor.
- Uses 4 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger per 2 cups, enough to deliver genuine heat and flavor without being overpowering.
- Boil the ginger in water first to extract the gingerol compounds before adding the tea and milk.
- Made with simple pantry ingredients.
- 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.
Ingredients
- Fresh ginger roots – Try buying ginger at an Indian grocery store, as Indian ginger is much more potent than American ginger. Check out my detailed posts about how to peel and grate ginger.
- Black tea leaves – Use the best-quality tea leaves to make ginger milk tea. CTC 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, Brook Bond Red Label, and Taj Mahal are also good.
- Sugar – You can adjust the sugar to your taste. Powdered jaggery also works great. It adds a molasses depth that pairs beautifully with ginger.
- Milk – 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 also use skim or low-fat milk in this recipe if that is what you have on hand. Just increase its quantity a little bit.
You can also add ½ teaspoon of dried ginger powder to this recipe, as both fresh and dried ginger have distinct flavors.
To make ginger masala tea, add ½ teaspoon of my homemade 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.
Fresh vs. dried ginger: Fresh ginger always wins. It delivers bright heat, citrusy aromatics, and active gingerol compounds. Dried ground ginger (½ tsp) works in a pinch but produces a drier, less vibrant cup.
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 rather than grating it. Reduce the heat to low and let the water simmer for 5 minutes. This step will ensure all the ginger flavors are infused into the water.
Step 3: 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 4: Now add 4 tablespoon of whole milk and mix well.
Step 5: Increase the heat to medium-high and cook for 2 minutes. Watch the pot; the chai will rise quickly when it reaches a boil. Stir with a spoon once the boil reaches the top of the pan to prevent the tea from spilling.
Step 6: Strain into 2 tea cups using a tea strainer (fine-mesh strainer) and serve immediately. Ginger chai is at its best piping hot.
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.
Pre-warm your cups with hot water before pouring. Cold cups dull the flavor immediately. To pre-heat, pour boiling hot water into the cups, let sit for 30-40 seconds, and then discard the water. Now immediately strain the tea into the cups.
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. You can also add a little tulsi and turmeric powder when making this tea.
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. Add the milk at the end and do not boil on high heat once milk is added to prevent it from splitting.
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 serve.
Serving Suggestions
I like to drink a cup of my ginger chai in the evening when Mohit is back from the office. That’s our time together, and we discuss everything that’s happened during the day. We always eat a few pieces of Parle J biscuits or Marie Biscuits with it.
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 your choice of 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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Shikanji Recipe (Authentic North Indian Masala Lemonade)
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Masala Soda Recipe (Spicy & Tangy Indian Summer Drink)
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Ginger Chai Recipe (Adrak wali Chai) – Bold, Warming & Ready in 10 Minutes
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 rolling boil, add ginger to the pan.
- Reduce the heat to low and let the water simmer for 5 minutes. This step will ensure all the ginger flavors are infused into the water.
- 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 cook for 2 minutes. Watch the pot; the chai will rise quickly when it reaches a boil. Stir with a spoon once the boil reaches the top of the pan to prevent the tea from spilling.
- Strain into 2 tea cups using a tea strainer (fine-mesh strainer) and serve immediately. Ginger chai is at its best piping hot.
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.