3 Mauritian-inspired Bubble Tea Recipes (2024)

Three Mauritian-inspired Bubble Tea recipes that will bring a fusion of flavours and textures to your summer drinks – Mauritian Cardamom & Ginger Tea (chai) , Alouda and Panakon bubble drinks.

I think bubble tea is one of the things that’s hard not to love once you’ve tasted it. It almost feels like the chewy boba or tapioca pearls have a life of their own as they swoosh around your teeth in their slippery fashion almost avoiding to be chewed. Today we are bringing a fusion of Mauritian touch to this famous Taiwanese drink by origin. Bubble tea, also known under different names – boba tea, pearl tea, or tapioca tea, black pearl tea, momi milk tea, QQ, and many other names – are commercially available in different flavours, though not always vegan.

We’ve been meaning to share these recipes since the beginning of summer; I guess it’s not too late. We are still in for some summer drinks when it comes to an ice cold glass of bubble tea.

Bubble tea is in fact very easy to make at home and can pretty much be customized to suit one’s taste. The boba can be added to pretty much any drinks, hot or cold, ranging from all sorts of teas to smoothies and fruit juices.

Our selection of three bubble tea recipes for today are inspired from three Mauritian drinks which can also be served without the tapioca pearls in their traditional way.

1. Cardamom and Ginger Chai Bubble Milk Tea
2. Alouda Bubble Milk Drink
3. Panakon (Spiced Lemon Water) Bubble Drink

If you try any of our recipes, please tag us on Instagram or post a photo on our Facebook page.

First let’s start with how to prepare the tapioca pearls or the boba. The large tapioca pearls are favoured although the smaller ones, that are mostly used in puddings, provide a good texture too.

Where to buy tapioca pearls [boba]?

You’ll find the large tapioca pearls at your local Asian grocery store or online.

You might also need some boba straws (Canada link here).

You can also get agar agar powder online. We buy this one at our local Asian grocery store. (Canada link for agar agar powder) .

3 Mauritian-inspired Bubble Tea recipes: Watch the video.

How to Prepare the Boba [Tapioca Pearls]

It is best to prepare the boba [tapioca pearls] according to the packet instructions. Below is a general guide that should work for most uncooked dried large tapioca pearls.

Ingredients (serve 4x 650ml [21-oz] glass)

1 cup dried large boba tapioca pearls (NOT quick cooking or partially cooked boba)
4 – 5 cups water
1/3 cup maple syrup or simple sugar syrup*

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the boba. Stir to prevent them from sticking to one another.
Once the boba floats to the top, lower the heat to a low-medium and simmer for about 25 minutes.
Stir every 5 to 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the boba sit in the water for about 10 – 15 minutes.
Then drain all the water and rinse in cold water.
Place the cooked boba in a bowl or jar.
Cover with some sugar syrup or maple syrup.
Let rest for about 15 minutes before using.

*To make simple sugar syrup, mix 1 part of water with 1 part of granular sugar. Heat in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Then simmer until the liquid is thick and syrupy. This should take 3 – 5 minutes.

Note: Cooked boba is best used within a few hours of cooking. It can be refrigerated for 2 – 3 days although it may lose its chewiness and become a little crunchy. This can easily be fixed by reheating it with a few spoonfuls of water in a saucepan for 3 – 5 minutes.

Cardamom and Ginger Chai Bubble Milk Tea

Cardamom and ginger black milk tea or chai is much loved and savoured by many Mauritians. In fact I enjoy a hot version of this tea almost everyday. The cold beverage is pretty tasty too and feels really quite like another drink altogether with the boba in there.

Sidenote: The word chai in many languages simple means tea.This is what it means to me. In many parts of the western world however, chai is mostly used to refer to “spiced tea”. Ironically, some chai beverage I’ve come across here do not contain any tea at all, but rather just the spices with the base liquid. I am using the word chai here for common connotation of a spiced tea preparation.

Ingredients (serve 1x 650ml [21-oz] glass)

1.5-cm [1/2-inch] cube ginger root, sliced thinly

1 small cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods, split open
2 – 3 teaspoons strong black loose tea (or 2 black teabags)
400 ml water
200 ml non-dairy milk (soy, rice, coconut or almond milk)
1/4 cup cooked boba tapioca pearls (as above)
Sugar or maple syrup to taste
Ice cubes

Place the water, ginger slices, cinnamon stick and opened cardomom pods in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high temperature until water reaches boiling point.

Remove from the heat, then add loose tea or tea bags. Let steep for 5 minutes then drain through a sieve. Allow to cool completely.

To assemble, place 1/4 cup of cooked tapioca pearls (as above) into a serving glass. Add ice cubes and the brewed black tea. Top with the milk. The boba already has some syrup but you may adjust the sweeteness if needed with some more syrup. You can also adjust the ratio of the black tea to the milk depending on how milky or strong you like your tea.

Alouda Bubble Milk Drink

The Alouda milk drink – that I’ve featured a vegan version of (with my own twist) in a previous post – is the Mauritian version of the Indian falooda. While falooda is enjoyed mostly as a dessert, the Mauritian Alouda is usually served as an iced cold drink especially around market. It is a very common scenery to find a crowd of people enjoying a good roti with a glass of thirst-quenching alouda in the hot Mauritan sun. Athough, it is probably hard to find this pink coloured rose flavoured milk-based drink in a vegan version on the island.

Easy to veganize and make at home, the characteristic components of alouda are agar agar jelly and basil seeds in flavoured milk. Artificial colourants are usually added for a pink colour for the milk and red hue for the jelly. I am using beetroot juice as a natural colourant in my recipe. You won’t taste the beetroot at all, trust me. Plus you’ll get some added nutrients.

Sidenote: If you want to make this Mauritian drink the traditional way, just use 2 tablespoons of soaked basil seeds instead of the tapioca pearls. Basil seeds are similar to chia seeds, they swell when soaked in water.

Ingredients (serve 1x 650ml [21-oz] glass)

For the jelly*:
1 small beetroot, peel and chopped

250 ml water
1 teaspoon agar agar powder (or 5 cm [2 inches] agar agar strands/block)

For the flavoured milk:
550 ml non-dairy milk (soy, rice, coconut or almond milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond essence
1 teaspoon rose water (optional)
1/4 cup cooked boba tapioca pearls (as above)
Sugar or maple syrup to taste
Ice cubes

*Note: the amounts listed for the jelly will provide you with at least 3 servings. You can refrigerate the rest until needed.

Make the jelly:
Place the beetroot and water in a blender. Process until beetroot is well mashed.
Pass through a fine mesh sieve to extract the beetroot juice.
Keep the pulp for later use (in cakes, cookies, hummus etc).
Add the beetroot juice to a saucepan with the agar agar powder. Dissolve the powder
Turn on the heat to high-medium temperature. Bring to a boil, then simmer for one full minute to activate the agar agar.
Remove from the heat and pour into small ramekins or bowls to set.
Set aside until cooled then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.
Once the jelly is set, grate or cut into small pieces.

To assemble the alouda bubble milk:

Place the boba in the glass. Add the vanilla and rose water (if using).
Add ice cubes and about 2 – 3 tablespoons of the grated jelly.
Top with non-dairy milk. Taste and adjust the sweetness with some sugar or maple syrup to your liking.

Panakon (Spiced Lemon Water) Bubble Drink

Panacon (aka panakam) is a fresh lemon drink with a couple of spices. Panakam originates from South India and we have our own Mauritian version with a few variations.

Fresh lime or lemon juice constitutes the base of this drink. For variation, fresh orange juice and tamarind juice can also be added. The characteristic spices – ginger powder and cardamom powder – turn this simple lemon drink into a unique combination of flavours – cooling and warming at the same time with sweet floral notes. Served iced cold as a special drink during various Tamil festivals, weddings and celebrations in Mauritius, panacon is great as a summer drink too. The addition of some chewy tapioca pearls just opens up a dimension of textures as well.

Sidenote: Just omit the tapioca pearls for the traditional Mauritian Panacon water. For variation add in the juice of one orange and one teaspoon of plain tamarind pulp/paste diluted in water.

Ingredients (serve 1x 650ml [21-oz] glass)

Juice from 1 lime or lemon
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
Sugar or maple syrup to taste
1/4 cup cooked boba tapioca pearls (as above)
Couple of skins of empty cardomom pods for garnish
Mint leaves for garnish

Make the panacon water by mixing the lime juice, ginger powder, cardomom powder and sugar or syrup in a pitcher.

To assemble the drink, simply place the tapioca pearls in the serving glass. Add ice cubes and pour the spiced lemon juice to fill the glass. Garnish with the empty cardamom pods and mint leaves.