Loka friend Harshit Gupta is the man behind Madhu Chocolate, so he knows a good hot chocolate. He shares his way of spicing it up with us - a perfect excuse to enjoy a sweet treat.
Makes three 6 oz cups of rich, velvety and spiced hot chocolate in your Loka Chai Maker.
Spices
Use any combination of warm baking spices to suit your taste. We love all of them – ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
If you are using powdered spices, a quarter to half teaspoon should be more than enough as they are potent spices. Alternatively you can use 1 teaspoon of whole spices, coarsely ground with a pestle and mortar. Assemble your Loka Chai Maker and then pour the spices into the strainer.
Chocolate
Add a generous number of chunks of 70% Dark chocolate into the strainer. Around 75g is good (so take three quarters of a 100g bar).
Milk & Water
Pour in 500ml of milk (dairy or oat) and 100ml or water.
Brew
Turn on your stove and wait for your chai maker to fountain (it should take 6-8 minutes). Use a heat setting slightly below what you typically use for chai due to the higher milk ratio.
After it starts fountaining, stir the bottom of the basket with a long handled spoon. Sometimes the solid chocolate melts but stays at the bottom of the basket.
Then you want to keep it brewing for another 3-5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt through and for it to aerate.
Serve!
Give it another stir, and then you’re ready to serve and enjoy.