suvir saran chef author consultant
Chai Cider
Serves 8-10
1 gallon/3.85 liters apple cider or apple juice
1/2 cup/200 grams packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 apples (preferably Pippins or Granny Smiths), thinly sliced and cut crosswise into bite-sized pieces
1 cup/110 g halved kumquats, optional
3 oranges, quartered and seeded
2 cups frozen or fresh cranberries
3 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
3 Darjeeling tea bags
Cognac or armagnac, optional
Combine the cider, brown sugar, ginger, apples, and kumquats in a crock pot.
Wrap the oranges, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and peppercorns in a large piece of cheesecloth and tie to prevent from opening. Cook on the lowest possible heat until the apples are completely tender and soft, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Once you are ready to serve, steep the tea bags in the hot cider for 10 minutes. Remove and discard along with the spice packet.
Ladle the cider into mugs with a shot of cognac or armagnac, if using. Top each cup with some of the apples and kumquats and serve.
Variation: Stovetop Cider
If you don’t have a crockpot, follow the recipe using a saucepan over low heat and reduce the cooking time to 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Variation: Apple Cider Glaze
A great use for any leftover cider, this glaze makes a delicious finishing addition to pork chops or a ham.
Strain the leftover apple cider to remove any solid bits of fruit or spice. Pour the strained cider into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. While the cider warms, dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon/15 ml of cider for every 1 cup/240 ml of cider in the saucepan. Add the cornstarch slurry to the simmering cider and stir until it thickens. Remove from the heat and brush the glaze over a ham or pork chops, or store in an airtight container for up to one week. Reheat gently (don’t let it come to a simmer) before glazing.
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When Charlie and I discovered that we had a plot of Pippin apple trees on our property, we were so excited that we couldn’t wait for the fall harvest. Untended for nearly a decade, the trees were wild and gnarly like something out of a children’s fairy tale. Lucky for us that their homely appearance didn’t effect the crisp, incredibly floral tasting, palm-sized apples that sprang from the trees come September. My friend and chef-colleague Hemant Mathur, and his wife Surbhi were visiting us on that fruitful weekend. Surbhi, who is a talented pastry chef, couldn’t help herself and she and Charlie returned from a hike carrying apples bundled in their shirttails, the bulging loads making the petite Surbhi appear at least six months pregnant!
We like to keep the cider in a saucepan on the stove on the lowest heat possible (or keep it in the carafe of a drip coffee maker set to the warm setting). The result is a warm spiced-apple perfume that smells one hundred times better than any potpourri or scented candle. Cider is the absolute essence of the countryside in the fall.
