Add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick & black pepper to a mortar pestle or a spice grinder. Crush or grind them to a powder.

Pour water to a pot. Add the tea, ground spices & crushed/chopped ginger. (Start with lower amount of tea and if required you may add more after adding milk)

Bring this to a rolling boil and reduce the heat to medium. Boil for 3 mins until the decoction turns dark.

Pour milk and add sugar. Bring it to a boil on a medium high heat.

Reduce the heat and simmer until the tea becomes dark, for about 3 to 4 mins. I usually simmer the entire tea until it reduces approximately to 1¾ cups.

When the masala tea is ready, you will see a layer of cream on top and also the milk flavor is gone.

Optionally aerate or pull your masala chai for the same Chaiwallah taste. Take a soup ladle and aerate the masala chai or simply pour some chai to a measuring cup. Pour the hot tea in a slow stream, back to the chai pot from a height of 1½ to 2 feet.

Repeat this step of pulling hot masala chai from the pot to the cup, a few times (4 to 5 times). This breaks down the layer of cream and incorporates it back to the masala chai making it more tasty and thick.

Strain the masala chai to serving cups & serve with any breakfast, snack or biscuits.

Clean all the spices and add to a blender jar. Powder finely. Store it in an airtight glass jar.

Use about ½ to ¾ tsp or more to make 2 servings of tea. For stronger tea you can use about ¾ tsp.