A week after...

I miss african tea. I am looking online now to figure out how to make it. It doesn't seem that hard, but it does need to contain the correct amount of certain ingredients. Here is some things that I have found online (and there isn't much):

First, I mix (full fat) milk and water in a pot in a 1-to-1 ratio. Some like to have more milk than this in their tea for a creamier taste (yummy!  ), while others prefer to have more water in their tea so that it’s thirst-quenching (not so yummy  ). A 1-to-1 ratio is the balance I have learned to strike between having very milky tea, which can be quite calorific, and tea that’s too watery, which is just not delicious. Once mixed, I place my pot on a stove and bring to a boil.

While my milk-and-water mixture is heating up, I walk into my garden and pick a few leaves of lemongrass which I then wash and crumple into the mixture. I love spicing my tea with lemongrass! (Maybe that’s what got me addicted in the first place.) Other spices commonly used in African Tea are ginger (fresh or ground) and Tea Masala (which I like a lot too). Once spiced, I let the mixture come to a boil while keeping close watch so that it does not boil over.

I then switch off the heat from my mixture in preparation of adding tea leaves to it. According to my mother, boiling tea leaves affects their taste negatively. (After many years of not believing her, I now know exactly what she means.  ) I then add tea leaves to the mixture, adding one teaspoon of loose tea leaves or one tea bag per cup of mixture. This measure has served me well for the most part but may need to be varied depending on the type and strength of tea being used. I then let my tea brew covered for a minute or two.

If I used loose tea leaves, I then proceed to sieve my tea into a flask; if not, I pour my tea directly into a flask without sieving (which is why I prefer to use tea bags instead of loose tea  ). Et voilà! My tea is ready for consumption. All that is needed past this point is adding sugar to taste.

I then found another simpler one that can probably changed easily and added to (it doesn't call for ginger, but I am sure it can be easily added) Here it is:

Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 7 teaspoons tea leaves
• 6 cups milk
• 10-15 teaspoons sugar

Directions

1. 1

   Heat together water and tea leaves in a 3 to 4 quart saucepan.

2. 2

   Boil 10 minutes. Add milk and heat to near boiling. Strain leaves. Add sugar to taste.

Out of both of these recipes I am sure that I can figure out a way to make a proper cup of african tea just like the ones that I had in Uganda.

Now all I have to do is try and catch up with my blog posts since I was  unable to post much in Uganda due to very slow or non existent internet connection.

Until then...