Chai-Spiced Bircher with Pear and Pistachio (Swiss × Indian)
Oats soaked overnight in Indian masala-chai milk with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and black tea, topped with grated pear and pistachios.
Method
Lightly crack the cardamom pods with the flat of a knife. Put the milk, tea bags, cardamom, most of the cinnamon (save a little for the end), sliced ginger and cloves in a 16 cm saucepan and heat on medium-low heat for , just until small bubbles appear around the edge. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over.
Add in this stepMilk 220 mlBlack tea bags 1Green cardamom pods 3Ground cinnamon 0.4 tspFresh ginger, thinly sliced 5 gWhole cloves 1
medium-low heatTurn off the heat, strain out the spices and tea bags, stir in the brown sugar until dissolved and leave to cool at room temperature for . Hot milk would turn the oats into porridge.
Add in this stepBrown sugar 2 tsp
Stir the oats and Greek yogurt into the cooled chai milk, cover and refrigerate for (overnight).
Add in this stepRolled oats 80 gGreek yogurt 100 g
In the morning, wash and core the pear, grate it coarsely with the skin on, toss with the lemon juice and stir into the oats. Pear is juicy, so add a little more yogurt if it seems thin.
Add in this stepPear 1Lemon juice 1 tsp
Roughly chop the pistachios, scatter them over the bowls and finish with the reserved pinch of cinnamon.
Add in this stepUnsalted pistachios 20 gGround cinnamon ⅛ tsp
Cook's tip
Steep the spices gently rather than boiling them, so you get fragrance without bitterness. No cardamom? Cinnamon and ginger alone are still delicious. Ripe diced mango works beautifully instead of pear.
Cooking it at camp
Brew and cool the chai milk at home, mix it with the oats and yogurt, and carry it in a sealed container in a cooler below 5 °C. At the campsite just grate in the pear and scatter over the pistachios.