Kesar Thandai
A cooling drink made with milk, dry fruits, spices, saffron etc. especially during Holi.
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1.5 litres milk (doodh)
- 10 to 15 almonds (badam)
- 10 to 15 cashew nuts (kaju)
- 10 to 15 pistachios (pista)
- 1 tbsp watermelon seeds (magaz)
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds (khuskhus)
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns (kali mirch)
- ½ cup of sugar (cheeni)
- A big pinch of saffron (kesar)
- 1 tsp of cardamom powder (elaichi powder)
For garnishing
- Almond slivers (badam ke barik tukde)
- Pistachio slivers (pista ke barik tukde)
- Dried rose petals (gulab ke sookhe pankhudiya)
Instructions
- Soak almonds, cashewnuts, pistachios, watermelon seeds, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, black peppercorns in a bowl of water, for 4 to 5 hours.
- After 5 hours, drain the water and grind all the ingredients to a fine paste. This is the thandai masala.
- In a bowl, take 2 tbsp warm milk.
- Add a big pinch of saffron to it and keep it aside for an hour.
- Heat the milk in a thick bottomed pan.
- When the milk starts boiling, add sugar.
- Keep stirring till the sugar dissolves.
- Add the thandai masala, and keep mixing till the masala blends well with the milk.
- Add the saffron milk mixture, cardamom powder and give a good mix. Turn off the flame.
- Allow the thandai to cool completely.
- Refrigerate and serve chilled.
- While serving, garnish the thandai with almond, pistachio slivers and dried rose petals.