festival of colours– Holi! you can’t think of celebrating this festival without the mention of thandai. However, in India any celebration is incomplete without sumptuous food and drinks.
Every occasion in India has one signature recipe, which is a must have for that festival and one such beverage recipe is Thandai. In fact, every Indian region has a different version of Thandai, however, the basic recipe remains the same and is amazingly delicious.
Thandai is a perfect Holi receipt to relish and what makes it indulgent is the amalgamation of ingredients like milk, almonds, saffron strands and sugar in the right proportions.This soul-satiating drink is a nice thirst-quencher which is high on nutrient-value and has some great health benefits.
In fact, this traditional drink tastes even better when served with Indian savoury snacks like Pakoras, Kachoris, Samosas to name a few.. Holi is certainly incomplete without a tall glass of Thandai and to make it eye-grabbing add some saffron strands while boiling the milk and your drink is ready. Here’s a simple Thandai recipe which will help you to prepare this drink in just a few minutes. Thandai also makes for a perfect healthy drink for summers as it has soothing elements like melon seeds and fennel seeds.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Chilling time: 2 hrs
Total time : 2 hrs 20 minutes
Serves: 6 glasses
Ingredients for Thandai masala:
1/4 cups almonds
1/4 cups fennel seeds or 2 tbs fennel powder
2 tbs cashew nuts
2 tbs pistachios
2 tbs poppy seeds (khuskhus)
1/2 tbs black pepper powder
1/2 tbs cardamom powder
1 tsp rose petals or rose water
10 -15 saffron strands
Ingredients for making thandai:
2 cups milk
Sugar as per taste
Steps and Images :
1. Take black pepper powder, cardamom powder and fennel seeds powder in a bowl and mix it well. If you want you can take seeds and grind it. I prefer taking powder.
2. Now take almonds, cashew nuts, khuskhus and pistachios.
3. Now grind all above ingredients and make fine powder. Grind it until it became smooth.
4. Add both the masala together in a bowl and mix well. Crush the rose petal and add it to the masala to enhance the taste of the thandai.
5. Now thandai powder is ready.
How to make thandai?
1. Pour milk in a pan, add saffron bring milk to boil now add sugar,keep the flame medium.
2. Now add 1 tbsp thandai masala( for 1 glass of milk add 1 tbsp thandai masala). Mix well. Now turn off the gas let the mixture cool at room temperature.
3. Once it became cool than transfer it to a big bowl and keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
4. Now strain the thandai using strainer.
5. Now add few drops of rose water.
6. Pour into serving glass and garnish with dry fruits, saffron and dry rose petals.
7. Now thandai is ready to serve.
