Thandai……our very own Indian MilkShake.

Thandai is the quintessential North Indian Milk based drink that is predominant in every Holi and Shivratri festival menus. Thandai is an exotic mix of spices like pepper, saffron, fennel, cardamom etc and nuts like almonds , melon seeds, cashews etc are combined together to make this energy drink. This refreshing beverage is not not tasty but power packed energy rebooster in every sense of the word.

Variations are tremendous and flavors are infused. Kesar Thandai, Mango Thandai, Kaju Badam Thandai etc are a few to name. Bhaang (Cannabis) Thandai is another very popular and lip smacking variety of thandai and this one is very popular during festival times in India.

a refreshing glass of Thandai makes the day worth it.

I like my Thandai mildly intoxicated and use a generous help of Poppy seeds and a few leaves of Dried Cannabis. While reading the whole article on this particular Thandai, one will have a fair idea of how it is done and finally the revelation of how simple this is to make.

THANDAI.

Now after much spoken about this delicious milkshake, let us see how it is made. It’s easy and it is no rocket science.

Yields 6 glasses of Thandai.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Milk- 1 litres.
2. Sugar- 1 cup.
3. Fennel Seeds- 1.5 teaspoon
4. Pepper corn- 2 teaspoon
5. Melon seeds- 1 teaspoon
6. Poppy seeds- 1.5 teaspoon.
7. Almonds- one handful.
8. Cashew nuts- 20 gms.
9. Saffron – A few strands.
10. Dried Rose Petals – 1 teaspoon.
11. Cardamom- a few pods.

HOW TO GO ABOUT IT:

1.In a mixer grinder, add all the spices and nuts mentioned above along with the sugar.

2. Run the grinder to make it into a fine power and here your thandai powder is ready. Remove and keep the power ingredient aside

3. Now take the milk (I use the pasteurized tetra packed) into a large mixing bowl.

4. Add the thandai powder that we made sometime back by grinding all the spices and nuts into the milk.

5. Whisk them all together to incorporate, either using a whisk or run it all together in a blender. Either way, the aim is to incorporate everything with the milk.

6. Chill the finished product and serve by garnishing with some dry rose petals or some chopped nuts, saffron strands etc.

This energy beverage is best consumed chilled and fresh, however if kept refrigerated it can last for a day or two. Serve chilled and enjoy the good times with family and friends.

Cheers.