Thandai is a refreshing, nutritious, heavenly cold drink made with milk and nuts.
Thandai
Course: BeveragesCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy8-10
servings45
minutesThandai is a refreshing, nutritious, heavenly cold drink made with milk, mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, rose petals, pepper, poppy seeds, cardamom, saffron, milk and sugar. This cold drink is often associated with the Holi or Holla mahalla festival. It is most commonly consumed in north India. There are many variants of thandai and the most common are badam (almond) thandai and there is an intoxicating version of thandai called bhaang. Bhaang is made with all the above ingredients and infused with cannabis.
Holi is a popular ancient Hindu festival, also known as the “festival of colours”, “festival of love”, and the “festival of spring”. The festival celebrates the eternal and divine love of Radha and Krishna. It also signifies the triumph of good over evil.
Ingredients
Full Cream Milk – 6 cups
Almonds – 30-35
Cashew nuts – 20
Pistachios – 20- 25
Poppy seeds – 3 tbsps.
Sugar ¾ cup
Green cardamoms 8-10
Black peppercorns 8-10
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Rose water – 2 tbsps.
Saffron – a few strands
Rose petals garnish – 20-25
Directions
- First blanch the almonds and pistachios. You can soak them overnight or soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes and then peel off the skin. It would easily come off.
- Grind together almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, green cardamoms, cinnamon, black peppercorns and poppy seeds with a little milk to a fine paste.
- Bring milk to a boil in a pan. Add saffron and mix.
- When the milk begins to boil add sugar and simmer till the sugar melts.
- Add the paste to the milk and mix well. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add rose water and stir it well when its simmering.
- Remove from heat. Cool the Thandai. Transfer it to a pitcher and refrigerate.
- Serve Thandai in your preferred glasses and garnish with fresh rose petals and saffron strands on top. Enjoy!!!!
