Chef Phillip’s Pumpkin Chai
From A Vegan Holiday Feast
Illustration by Julia Cost
Recipe by Chef Phillip Gelb of Sound & Savor
Serves 8
1 small sugar pie pumpkin
4 cups almond milk
½–1 cup maple syrup, depending on desired sweetness
1⁄3 cup Darjeeling tea leaves
1-inch piece fresh ginger
1 cinnamon stick
10 black peppercorns
5 allspice berries
4 green cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 star anise
1 vanilla bean, split
Preheat oven to 425°. Split pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and place in a roasting pan with ¼ cup water. Cover and roast for 45 minutes. When pumpkin is soft, remove from oven and allow to cool. Then scrape flesh from shell into the jar of a blender. (Compost the shell or use it to make stock.)
Place 3¾ cups water in a saucepan and add almond milk, maple syrup, tea leaves, and all the spices. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, remove from heat, and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain to remove all solids and add 2 cups of this tea to blender with the roasted pumpkin flesh. Purée well and then stir into the remaining tea. Serve hot in mugs.
