Many years back, I went for lunch one day to a small Indian restaurant in the basement of an old house on the quiet part of Pearl Street in Boulder, CO. Basements aren’t the most welcoming environments for dining and buffets have always given me the willies. To compound my sense of foreboding, I was the only diner that early afternoon. I didn’t have high hopes for the meal, but the waiter was attentive and I could hear energetic sizzling in the kitchen accompanied by warm, rich smells of complex spices. Somehow I’d timed my visit to coincide precisely with fresh food coming out of the kitchen directly to the buffet. I’d have the first crack. After I’d loaded my plate, the waiter came around with a cup of chai tea. I’d never had it before and had no idea what to expect. The white cup was filled to the top, the color a deep mocha, the smell intoxicating. I was hooked from my first sip. I’ve tried chai tea in many Indian restaurants and coffee shops since and have sampled the packaged kinds – but the small Indian place in Boulder made the best. (Luckily for me a close second can be had by brewing my own at home using a Tazo Organic Chai Tea bag and soy milk.)
The flavors that comprise a good cup of chai tea continue to engage me. I’ve made chai-flavored pancakes and chai-infused muffins. When I was thinking about creating a dried fruit compote to accompany breakfast one morning, I decided to create one using a couple of chai tea bags and enhancing them with the proper spices. The result is this simple compote that is delicious on waffles, pancakes, French toast or on top of non-dairy yogurt.
Chai Tea-Infused Cherry & Apricot Compote
Makes ~1 1/2 cups
1 cup dried tart cherries
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
3 cardamom pods
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 star anise
3 whole cloves
1 cup strongly brewed chai tea
1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 tbsp. maple syrup
In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients and bring mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently until the liquid has reduced to about one half. Turn off the heat and remove the cinnamon stick and other spices. In a mini-prep or blender, puree about one-third of the mixture and then stir back into the original mixture.
That looks absolutely wonderful. I first had chai in Pakistan when I was 20 and I’ve loved it ever since. Oddly enough though, I’ve never been able to get it in an Indian restaurant over here. I’ve often asked for it and they’ve looked at me as if I was mad, which strikes me as most odd. I do make it myself sometimes but I never quite get the thickness I had in Pakistan. Your photograph with the star anise at the top of the page is beautiful.
Thanks, Lorna! Very odd that you are unable to find it – I figured it was a standard menu item! Shall I ship you some Tazo Chai
?
Thank you, very kind, but I can buy chai in shops, just not in Indian restaurants for some reason. That Tazo Chai is great, not very available here but I’ve had it brought back from the States by a friend and was very impressed by it.
You had me at Boulder, CO. We checked out Pearl Street on our last day in Denver this past July. And then I kept reading…and you had me a chai tea. LOVE chai tea.
It’s a wonderful town – glad you were able to check it out. I love Colorado and miss living there. Yeah – chai tea. The best!
This sounds amazing! I lived in Boulder for 5 years while I was in grad school. I wonder if that restaurant was there when I was and if I ever went…do you happen to remember the name of the restaurant? I loved Pearl Street and miss Boulder sometimes. There was another restaurant there that had good comfort food called Sherpa’s. This was in a house as well but not in the basement.
I lived in Boulder for 5 years, too! In the early 90s. Loved it – and I miss it, too, sometimes. It’s changed A LOT since I was there, but it’s still got a wonderful vibe. I can’t recall the name of the restaurant, but it was right across from a large bicycle shop. I remember the Tibetan one where all of the mountain climbers used to go…and a wonderful Thai place just off of Pearl. Good memories! When were you there?
About 2001- 2006.
Can I be nosey and ask what you studied in grad school?
If I had the cash monies, I would totally move to Colorado to study. It’s so incredibly beautiful.
University of Colorado…it was a great place to go to school especially if you like nature. Almost every weekend I was hiking in the mountains or doing something in the outdoors. And the air is really fresh. I know it sounds hokey, but it really was.
Oh, sorry. I just realized you asked what I studied. I studied Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, the program I was in I think is now part of the Astrophysics department.
Wow, really cool. And yeah, the air there is SO clean and fresh, my god. That is the exact thing I said when we were in Colorado–we’re so used to the gross sea-level air of the midwest, hah. The air was so clean that it practically stung our noses to breathe!
Wow! That looks delicious! I love chai too, but rarely ever get it. This compote looks really sophisticated and quite lovely! I love the little yogurt parfaits you made with it! I’m on a quest to make my own vegan yogurt today… we’ll see how that turns out….
I’m very interested to hear how your vegan yogurt adventure goes. I’d love to make my own since buying it locally is difficult. I’ve made soy yogurt in the past and…well, I’ll just say I need to keep trying
.
so far so good on the yogurt! Hoping to post about it this week!
I am beginning to get jealous. Hopefully over time things will just come to me like this. This looks really delicious. I know what you mean about Indian chai tea I had some at this restaurant called the taj mahal a year ago that was so good.
It will! Vegan cooking just sparks the imagination – - but I’m no genius in the kitchen. My forays into creating my own recipes are fledgling! The more I cook/bake, though, the more ideas roll around in my head.
What a lovely back story!
I love that the compote is tea infused, adds another layer to an already intriguing recipe.
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