Thandai Recipe - Spiced Festival Drink With Saffron And Dry Fruits

Thandai Recipe - Spiced Festival Drink With Saffron And Dry Fruits

     Make this delicious Thandai for the festival of Holi and serve it as a chilled drink along with Bhang. Serve this Thandai on a festival along with some Chaat items like Dahi Bhalla, Panni Puri or sweets like Gujiya on Holi.

     Thandai is a very popular drink from Rajasthan made with dry fruits, saffron and milk. The recipe is super simple to make and and healthy too. The addition of black pepper, kesar and poppy seeds adds to the punch and flavor of Thandai.

     Each one in India has a way of making this recipe for Holi, and everyone has a personal touch. This recipe of Thandai will taste just like your Guruji Thandai or Patanjali Thandai that you get in the market. You can also flavor it with Bhang and make a Bhang Thandai for the festival of Holi.

     You can savour the Thandai hot, during cold winter nights or cold during the famous festival of Mahashivratri and Holi. Thandai is often mixed with 'bhang' to make an intoxicating drink.

     Thandai (Spiced Festival Drink with Saffron and Dry fruits) can be served as a Party Drink for festivals. 

Thandai Recipe / Spiced Festival Drink With Saffron And Dry Fruits

Cuisine: Rajasthani 

Course: Appetizer 

Diet: Vegetarian 

Ingredients:

Ingredients to make Thandai Recipe:

• 1 liter Milk,(I used 2% fat milk)
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 2 Saffron strands

Ingredients to be ground into a fine powder:

• 1/4 cup Badam (Almond),blanched and peeled
• 1/4 cup Cashew nuts
• 1/4 cup Pistachios
• 2 tablespoons Fennel seeds (Saunf)
• 2 tablespoons Poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoons Cardamom Powder (Elaichi),(8 to 10 cardamoms)
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder (Dalchini)
• 10 Whole Black Peppercorns

Method:

1. To begin making the Thandai Recipe, we will first blanch the almonds. Click here to see a video recipe of how to Blanch Almonds.
2. Soak the almonds in hot water for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of soaking, peel the skin of the almonds and keep aside to make the Thandai.
3. Add the blanched almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, cinnamon, fennel seeds cardamom, black pepper and poppy seeds into a blender.
4. Add a 1/4 cup of milk and grind the dry fruits into a fine paste. This is the Thandai Spice Mixture and it tastes absolutely delicious and you can store it in the refrigerator to make a thandai drink anytime. 
5. In a heavy bottom saucepan; add milk and saffron. Bring the milk mixture to a boil.
6. When the milk begins to boil add sugar and simmer stirring continuously till the sugar melts. 
7. Add in the thandai spice mixture into the milk and simmer for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the thandai  to cool and refrigerate. 
8. Serve the Thandai chilled for the festival of holi or Maha shivratri.  In addition, you can also flavor it with Bhang and make a Bhang Thandai for the festival of Holi.
9. Serve the Thandai chilled for the festival of Holi or Maha shivratri or simple as a Party Drink when you have friends and family over.

                                                                                                                                                 Enjoyfood!