Vanilla Chai Pudding — vanilla-and-spiced-chai pudding

i. Origin & history

The pudding is largely a modern Indian-diaspora invention — neither traditional Indian nor traditional Western. It works because the chai spice grammar has been remarkably successful at travelling into other dessert formats: chai cheesecake, chai latte ice cream, and this pudding.

ii. Ingredients

Makes 6 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 1 litre whole milk
• 100 g sugar
• 30 g cornstarch
• 6 cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 2 cm ginger, sliced
• 2 tea bags black tea (or 2 tsp loose)
• 1 vanilla pod, split
• Pinch salt

iii. Method

1. Combine milk, all the spices, ginger, tea and salt. Warm gently until just steaming; off heat, steep 20 minutes.
2. Strain. Discard solids.
3. Whisk cornstarch with a ladleful of the infused milk to a slurry. Return to the pan with sugar and the vanilla pod. Cook over low heat, stirring, until thickened to a coats-the-spoon custard — 4 minutes.
4. Pour into 6 ramekins. Chill at least 4 hours. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and an optional dusting of cocoa.

iv. Tips & common mistakes

• Use the freshest ingredients you can. The recipe relies on them.
• Read the method through first. Several steps must be ready in advance.
• Season patiently. Sweetness and salt are tuned at the end, not the start.

v. Variations

Chai panna cotta uses gelatin instead of cornstarch. Chai rice pudding swaps cornstarch for rice. Saffron chai pudding adds saffron. Cold-brew chai pudding uses a stronger tea base.

vii. More from Indian & South Asian

• Cardamom Rice Pudding — fragrant kheer
• Hot Milk Pudding — Indian milk pudding
• Malabi — rosewater milk pudding
• Phirni — ground-rice pudding
• Payasam — South Indian milk pudding
• Kazandibi — Turkish milk pudding