Put the flour, salt, and cubes of cold butter into a stand mixer (with a paddle attachment) or food processor. Then, mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until it becomes sandy, with little to no large lumps of butter left. Then, add the tablespoon of water and mix briefly until the dough comes together. If you find the dough doesn’t come together, add in a bit more water until it does. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

On a well-floured surface, roll out the shortcrust pastry dough using a rolling pin until it is at least 4 cm/1.5 inches larger than your tart pan all around, and about 2-4mm thick. Lay the dough into the tart pan, making sure to fit the dough snugly into the edges, and trim off the excess dough. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Dock the tart shell with a docker or fork (prick shallow holes all over, essentially), and fill it with baking beans. Blind bake the tart shell in an oven set to 180°C for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until the shell turns a light shade of brown. When it’s done, remove the tart shell from the oven, but leave it in the tart pan.

Weigh out all the spices and toast them in a hot pan until they become fragrant and starts to smoke very slightly. (Note that you can use either whole or pre-ground spices to begin with.) Then, transfer the spices to a spice grinder or blender, and pulverise the spices until it turns into a fine powder!

Place the cream and milk in a saucepan, and heat until it starts to steam. Add the masala spice mix and the tea leaves into the cream, and let it infuse for at least 10 minutes, then strain out the tea leaves. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, caster sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Then, pour half of the hot cream into the egg and sugar mixture, give it a quick mix, and then pour in the rest of the cream.

Pour this custard mix into the baked tart shell, and bake it in an oven set to 130°C for 40-50 minutes. You can check for the doneness of the tart but giving the tart pan a gentle shake. It’s done when the sides of the tart are firm but the middle still wobbles a little! When the tart is done baking, remove it from the oven and let it cool to room temperature before digging in. If you’re not a fan of lava-soft custard tarts, refrigerate it for a few hours for a firmer texture.