Holi Recipe- Delicious Cooling Drink Fro Festival Thandai

Thandai is a delicious cooling drink made with milk, flavored with nuts, seeds and spices, and adorned with saffron strands and rose petals. Thandai is enjoyed in the Northern parts of India during the warm summer months and especially on the occasion of Holi.

Thandai is also called Sardai in some parts of India. Thand means cold, so Thandai is a cool and refreshing drink. Thandai is made with a special spice mix, which is mixed in milk. We will make the Thandai paste/syrup and then the Thandai Milk in this recipe.

Ingredients

For Thandai Paste

2 tablespoon Almonds
2 tablespoon Cashews
2 tablespoon Pistachios
½ tablespoon Fennel Seeds (Saunf)
½ tablespoon Poppy Seeds (Khus khus)
½ tablespoon Melon seeds (Charmagaz)
5 pods Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
5 Black peppercorns
1 tablespoon Rose Petals

For Thandai

1 litre Milk preferably pasteurized whole milk, divided
6 tablespoon Sugar adjust to taste
1 teaspoon Rose Water (optional) or dried rose petals
8-10 strands Saffron (Kesar) to garnish
Dried Rose Petals to garnish

Method

Make Thandai Paste

- First blanch the almonds. Soak them overnight or soak in hot water for 15-30 minutes. Then peel the skin.

- While the almonds are soaking, you can also soak the other nuts and seeds if you like. This will help to soften them, and make it easier to grind.

- Transfer the almonds to a blender along with all ingredients for Thandai paste and make a fine paste. Add milk as needed to make a smooth paste or syrup.

Make Thandai

- Add milk to a heavy bottom pan on medium-high heat, and bring to a gentle boil. Add saffron strands to the milk, while it is heating.

- Reduce the heat to low, then mix in the thandai paste and sugar. Then add in the rose water. Use a whisk to mix the thandai with the milk. Take off heat.

- Let this rest for at least 30 minutes or you can let it cool, and refrigerate it overnight. This helps for the milk to soak in all wonderful flavors.

- Strain the thandai. Make sure to take out all the milk from the sieve by pressing the remains.

- Serve thandai in glasses. Garnish with saffron strands, dried rose petals, and optimally sliced pistachios. Serve chilled