I haven't posted any recipes for a while so I thought I'd do so today. Last night I made some dairy-free (and can easily be egg free)  triple-chai tapioca pudding. I called it triple chai because I used three kinds of chai tea in it.

Ingredients:

Tapioca pearls 1/2 cup, or more if you like
Dairy-free milk (3 cups) (Your choice: soy, rice, hemp, almond, coconut, etc)
Dash of salt
Tsp of vanilla, or to taste
3 different types of chai (or just one type--it's really not necessary to do 3)
If you do one type, just add a little more water (a cup), and soak the bags longer to make sure the chai flavor comes through. Or a concentrate might be the quickest and most painless way. ;)
1 egg (optional) I've tried tapioca pudding both ways--with and without eggs, and there isn't much difference.
Sweetener if you didn't use sweetened concentrate (to taste... 1/4 cup or more, depending)


Prep:

Chai #1:
Brew 2-3 bags of chai tea (I used coconut chai, I think by Celestial Seasonings but I've seen other brands) in about 1/2 cup water
Brew really strong so the flavor comes through!

Chai #2:
Brew 2-3 bags of chai tea (another type), I used mate chai by Pixie Mate. Brew the same way as above.

Chai #3: I used a homemade chai that I made using various spices and brown sugar (just because it was all I had, but you can use agave or whatever sweetener you like). I actually forgot to put actual TEA in it, but other than that it was good. Hehee. You could use any other type of chai or chai concentrate here. Mine was definitely sweetened so I didn't use any sweetener in the pudding. Also, I didn't have any other sweetener to add. :D

If you use unsweetened chai concentrate or bags, then add sweetener to taste when you make the pudding (honey, agave, sugar, whatever). This is a personal call--anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1 cup. My version was not very sweet, but sweet enough to be called a pudding.

Making the pudding:

Soak your tapioca pearls, approx 1/2 cup. You could add more or less, depending on the consistency you're trying to achieve. The more you add, the chunkier the pudding will be. I wouldn't add too much more than a standard tapioca recipe because then the pudding is just rubbery. in it for a bit--this isn't really necessary to do UNLESS you have the longer-cooking tapioca. If your tapioca says 'quick cooking' then you should be fine to just start without soaking. If it isn't quick cooking, let it soak for half an hour. It usually says how to do that on the package. Usually they say to soak it in hot water, so you could do that in the sauce pan.

Use your favorite dairy-free milk (almond, hemp, soy, etc!)  and add to the tapioca pearls. Stir frequently with a whisk over medium heat until it begins to thicken, add strong chai teas and concentrates and continue to stir. When desired thickness is reached (remember it thickens some when it cools, too!) take it off the heat, put a bit of vanilla in, and allow to cool. Serve warm, or chill in the refrigerator. It REALLY thickens when chilled, so keep this in mind. If you like your tapioca warm, you can reheat it. If you like it cold and it thickened too much, then you can add little of your dairy free milk (or dairy milk, of course) to loosen it up, stirring throughly.

I topped mine with this:




And some rainbow sprinkles. Which have no gluten or dairy, but do have soy.