Thandai is a refreshingly cool Indian drink of a very satisfying and wholesome taste, primarily served during the Holi, the great festival of colours in India. It is crafted with sliced and grounded dry fruits, saffron, a few authentic and exotic spices in a flavoured, sweet milk base.
A different variety of this traditional drink is offered during the Maha Shivratri religious festival across India. That variety may, at times, include ‘Bhang’ as an ingredient. Bhang is a paste prepared from buds, leaves and flowers of the female cannabis. Though the consumption of cannabis is legally restricted in India, the tradition of adding Bhang to flavoured and spiced milk is very old, probably more than a thousand years, mostly owing to the use of cannabis in ancient Ayurvedic medicines. Each state in India generates a different variety of Thandai with regional spices. Our formula doesn’t include Bhang. Here’s the recipe for 10 servings.
- Preparation time: 10 minutes
- Cooking time: 20 minutes
- Total time: 30 minutes
Thandai Ingredients
- Full cream milk – 1 liter
- Almonds – 50 grams
- Cashew nuts – 150 grams
- Pistachio – 30 grams
- Poppy seeds – 50 grams
- Black pepper – 2 teaspoons
- Fennel seeds- 30 grams
- Pumpkin seeds – 30 grams
- Sugar – 200 grams
- Cinnamon – 1
- Green cardamom – 2 teaspoons
- Mace – 1
- Dried rose petals – 10 grams
- Fresh rose petals – 10 grams
Thandai: Preparation
- Gently grind all the dry ingredients together except the fresh rose petals
- Now into a bowl, carefully sift the ground mix with a sieve to separate the fine powder
- Keep aside a small quantity of milk. Boil the larger portion of the milk. As the milk starts to boil, add the ground mixture at small intervals and keep stirring
- Add 7-8 rose petals into the milk you’ve set aside, and gently crush them into a liquidy paste
- Pour the rose petal paste into the spiced milk solution that is still on the burner and stir until the rose petal crush blends thoroughly and the milk thickens
- Switch off the burner and let the thick mix cool down
- When the flavoured milk cools off, pour it into a glass with ice cubes and look out for a froth to appear on the top
- Garnish your Thandai with remaining rose petals and dry fruits and nuts slices, and enjoy!
