How to Make Indian Chai Tea

So apparently, those Chai tea sacks I buy at Giant, are not the "authentic" way to make Indian tea. Or so my neighbor says. I don't know what makes her such her expert (other than being Gujarati) but I'm a good sport, so I let her show me how to make Chai

Step 1
Get help from a neighbor for this. Bonus points if your neighbor is Indian.

Step 2
Boil water with coarse tea grains (made from dried tea leaves), a couple of cardamom pods, and masala. Masal is Hindi for "spice". You can make chicken masala of course, but I suspect the combination of spices is completely different. I think that this chai masala is a mix of ginger, anise, orange peel, cloves and peppercorn.

Step 3
Add sugar. I think that the myth is that Chai is incredibly sweet, but it doesn't have to be. I like it on the less-sweet side.

Step 4
Pour in a generous amount of milk so that the tea's color is light chocolate brown.

Step 5
Boil the tea longer enough so that the milk boils and rises up three times.

Step 6
Pour tea through a strainer into glass cups.

Step 7
Enjoy!