What is Holi without thandai? The traditional Indian drink livens up the festival of colours. Prepared with creamy milk, almonds, fennel seeds, rose petals, watermelon kernels, pepper, cardamom, saffron, and sugar, the drink is very popular in northwestern India. It is healthy and very refreshing. After a fun-filled game of colours, people consume Holi thandai to get refreshed and even more charged up. It is also consumed on Mahashivaratri and Holla Mohalla festivals. Many also use bhaang (cannabis) in thandai. But with bhang or without, thandai is a drink that can lift your spirits in no time. Here is a thandai recipe especially created for you. Happy Holi!
Thandai recipe
Serve: 2-3
Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
Milk: 500ml
Almonds, blanched: 20 gm
Pistachios, blanched: 20 gm
Poppy seeds – soak in water for 1 hour: 10 gm
Cashews, blanched: 20 gm
Melon seeds, blanched: 10 gm
Cinnamon powder: 01 gm
Black pepper corns: 02 gm
Rose petals: 05 gm
Sugar: 150 gm
Saffron: ¼ gm
Green cardamoms: 01 gm
Method:
Heat sugar and milk. Add saffron when sugar dissolves in milk. Turn off the flame. Combine almonds, pistachios, soaked poppy seeds, cashews, melon seeds, rose petals and a little milk to make a paste. Combine cinnamon, cardamom and pepper and grind to a powder. Add this powder to the paste. Mix the paste with little milk, then add it all to the remaining milk. Serve cold.
(Recipe courtesy: The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa, New Delhi)