Wondering how to spice up your chai time? Mini Ribeiro brings you recipes of ideal tea-time snacks.

ALSO SEE: The 10 best places to have chai

No evening is complete without a cup of warm chai and some delicious snacks. 

We bring you five tasty chai-time recipes.

Try it out at home and let us know how well you fared.

Chilli Bhajji

Recipe: Courtesy Infinitea, Bengaluru

Ingredients

• 40 gm boiled and mashed potatoes 
• 1 cup gram flour or besan 
• 40 gm cottage cheese 
• 20 gm cream cheese (optional) 
• 5 gm onions finely chopped 
• 4 chillies 
• Oil 
• Oregano 
• Salt to taste

Method

• Mix potatoes (boiled and mashed) with mashed cottage cheese.
• Season with salt and dry oregano.
• Add finely chopped onions. If you have cream cheese handy, add it as it makes for a lovely addition. 
• Slit 4 chillies carefully down the middle and remove the seeds. Leave a few seeds in if you want it to be more spicier.
• Pour some water into a cup of gram four. Keep whisking until you are happy with the consistency.
• Keep adding water but take care not to make the batter runny. Season with salt.
• Heat some oil for deep frying. Dip the stuffed chillies in the batter and then fry until golden.
• Eat hot. You can pair it with a cup of masala tea.

Podi Idli

Recipe: Courtesy Cha Bar, Delhi

Ingredients

• 300 gm urad (washed) 
• 100 gm idli rice 
• 1 spoon ghee
• 1 pinch mustard seeds 
• 5-6 curry leaves 
• A pinch of salt 

Podi masala

• 100 gm coriander seeds 
• 100 gm dry red chilli 
• 20 gm cumin seeds 
• 20 gm fennel seeds 
• 10 gm black pepper corn 
• 15 gm Bengal gram 
• 5 gm asafoetida 
• 1 inch cinnamon stick 
• 3 cloves cloves 
• 30 gm turmeric powder 

Method

For idli

• Soak the rice and lentil separately for four hours. Wash it nicely.
• Grind the lentil into a fine paste.
• Then grind the rice a bit coarsely. Mix both together, add salt and keep it for fermentation.
• Apply little oil on idli mould and place this mix gently into the mould.
• Steam it for around 15 minutes. Take it out from steamer.

For podi masala

• Boil all the above ingredients together and make it a fine powder.
• Take a spoon of ghee in a pan and heat. Then crackle mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• Add 16 idlis and podi masala. Add a pinch of salt if required.
• Toss it all together and serve.

Sugiyan (a popular tea-time snack from Kerala)

Recipe: Courtesy, Executive Chef, Suresh Thampy, Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai International Airport

Ingredients

• 250 gm moong dal 
• 100 gm grated coconut
• 30 gm palm jaggery
• 50 gm refined flour
• 250 gm rice flour
• 4-5 cardamoms 
• Salt to taste

Method

• Soak moong dal in a vessel for about 5 to 6 hours.
• Cook the moong dal in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles (if you keep it for more than 2 whistles, the moong dal will get overcooked).
• Make sure the water is not too much and the moong after cooking should be thick in consistency.
• Prepare a dry mixture of moong dal, grated coconut, powdered cardamom and grated palm jaggery. Divide into small portions and make it into a pattie. Keep aside
• Make a thick batter of rice flour, refined flour and salt by mixing little water.
• Dip the pattie in the batter and make sure you get a uniform coating.
• Deep fry till the coating is golden brown. Serve hot with tea.

Smoked Tea Pizza

Recipe: Courtesy Tea Trails, Mumbai

Ingredients

• 1 thin crust whole wheat pizza base
• 3 red tomatoes
• 20 gm chopped onion
• 15 gm chopped garlic
• 1 small garni (bouquet) Darjeeling black tea
• 10 ml olive oil
• 5 gm salt
• 2 gm crushed black pepper
• 10 gm basil
• 5 gm oregano
• 75 gm Mozarella cheese
• 2 gm Lapsang Souchong

Method

• Blanch and de-seed the tomatoes. Chop and keep aside.
• In a pan, heat oil and add the chopped garlic and chopped onion.
• When the onion softens, add the chopped de-seeded tomatoes.
• Saute for a while and add stock/water. Add the tea garni. Simmer for one hour.
• Remove the tea garni, season and cook further for a sauce like consistency.
• Take a thin crust pizza base and fork on it for a better hold.
• Spread the pizza sauce, uniformly on the pizza
• Sprinkle the Mozarella cheese on top of sauce uniformly.
• Top it up with shreds of Basil and leaves of Lapsang Souchong.
• Place it in an oven pre-heated at 200 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Take out and serve.

Roti Helicopter

Recipe: Courtesy NRI, Mumbai

Ingredients

• 70 gm naan dough
• 2 gm sugar
• 1gm salt
• 20 gm kaya (coconut jam)
• 50 gm vanilla ice cream

For coconut jam

• 4 eggs
• 150 gm coconut cream
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 200 gm Demerara sugar
• 3 Pandan leaves
• 10 gm corn flour
• 50 gm castor sugar

Method

• Whisk the egg with the Demerera sugar, coconut cream and coconut milk. 
• Strain the mixture.
• Set up a double boiler. 
• Caramelise castor sugar and add into the bowl on the double boiler. 
• Slowly add the egg mixture and continuously mix using a spatula, make sure the egg doesn't curdle. 
• Add knotted pandan leaves and cook on the double boiler stirring constantly for 20 minutes till the mixture thickens slightly. 
• Make a slurry (semi-liquid mixture) of corn flour and add to the mixture. Cook for another two minutes.
• Take it off the flame and transfer to another container.
• Let it cool.

For the roti

• Take naan dough and roll it out paper thin; apply lots of oil on it.
• Place the flattened dough on a hot griddle. 
• Cook on each side till cooked and sprinkle a mixture of salt and sugar on one side.
• Cut the roti in half on the griddle and roll into two cones. 
• Finish on a plate with a drizzle of kaya and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• Garnish with a mint sprig.

Click here for more recipes