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    Home » Recipes » Beverages

    Published: Mar 11, 2017 · Modified: Mar 23, 2021 by Usha Rao

    Thandai, Sweet & Spicy Drink for Holi

    Jump to Recipe

    Thandai is a special, milk based soft drink prepared for Holi and is loaded with nuts, spices, rose petals and sugar.

    Glasses of Thandai for Holi.
    Jump to:
    • What is Holi?
    • What is Thandai?
    • Ingredients
    • How to Prepare?
    • Holi Recipes
    • Detailed, Printable Recipe

    What is Holi?

    Holi is a festival of colors, celebrated all across India. However, celebrations varies from region to region. Regardless of the region, a common element is playing with colors and applying color to friends and family.

    In many western and north Indian states, food plays an important element in celebrating this Spring festival. Apart from an array of snacks and sweets, thandai with or without bhang is a quintessential drink for Holi.

    What is Thandai?

    Thandai is a milk based drink. It is a sweet and spicy milkshake with lots of nuts, with or without bhang. Bhang thandai is mildly intoxicated. These are the only two Holi food/drinks I knew about when growing up, although tasted neither until recently.

    Ingredients

    Cashews, melon seeds, almonds, pistachios, poppy seeds, cardamom, peppercorns, saffron, rose petals, sugar and milk are the basic ingredients for thandai. Addition of poppy seeds and rose petals enhances the flavor of the drink but skip these two ingredients if you can not source them.

    How to Prepare?

    Thandai is loaded with nuts, spices, sugar and rose petals. Skip rose petals if you can't source is it. Full recipe in the recipe card.

    • Soak nuts and grind together with spices to a fine paste.
    • Cook the paste in boiling milk.
    • Refrigerate the drink until ready to serve. Addition of poppy seeds to the drink is quite refreshing.

    Though this is a special drink for Holi, you can easily incorporate it into your daily diet. If doing so, I recommend cutting back or skiping cashews as these are the only nuts that are rich in calories.

    Glasses of sweet and spicy Holi drink.

    Holi Recipes

    Other common Holi recipes besides thandai are kachori, dahi vada, baked namak para, pakoda, ras malai to name a few. Dahi vada recipe on the blog is South Indian version and for a North Indian version, skip the tempering and sprinkle some jeera powder, chaat masala, chili powder on the dahi vada before serving.

    Source: Sanjeev Kapoor

    Detailed, Printable Recipe

    One glass of thandai in the forefront and 3 in a golden color plate in the back.

    Thandai

    A sweet and spicy milk based drink loaded with nuts, seeds and spices. A Holi special.
    No ratings yet
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Beverage
    Cuisine: Indian, North Indian
    Prep Time: 2 hours
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Cooling Time: 2 hours
    Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 316kcal
    Author: Usha Rao

    Equipment

    • Saucepan
    • Grinder or a Blender

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups or 1 quart Whole Milk I used 2 cups whole milk and 2 cups 1% milk
    • 12 Cashews soaked
    • 2 tablespoon Melon Seeds soaked (I substituted with 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds)
    • 2 tablespoon Poppy Seeds soaked
    • 16 Whole Almonds blanched
    • 20 Shelled Pistachios blanched (I used roasted pistachios)
    • ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon Saffron
    • ⅔ - 1 cup Sugar I used one cup and was a bit too sweet
    • 6 Green Cardamoms
    • ½ inch Cinnamon Stick
    • 6 Black Peppercorns
    • 14 - 16 Rose Petals I didn’t use

    Instructions

    • Soak cashews, melon seeds and poppy seeds for at least 1 – 2 hours, preferably 2 hours.
    • Blanch almonds and pistachios by dropping the nuts in boiling water and cooking for a minute. Drain, run under cold water and peel the skin. For pistachios, rub the nuts between fingers and if there is a thin skin, it will peel off. If not, use it as is.
    • Grind together almonds, pistachios, cashews, melon seeds and poppy seeds to a fine paste using some milk. Keep it aside.
    • Grind green cardamom, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and rose petals (if using) to a fine powder and keep aside.
    • Bring remaining milk to a boil and add saffron.
    • When milk boils, add sugar and mix well. Start with about ⅔ cup of sugar, taste and adjust to taste.
    • Add nuts paste to milk and mix well to incorporate. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
    • Add ground spice powder and continue simmering for a couple of minutes.
    • Taste thandai and adjust sugar.
    • Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before serving. I served it as is but if one wishes, strain and then serve.

    Notes

    • Everyday Drink - Though this s a Holi special, you can easily incorporate this drink  into your daily diet. Cut back or skip cashews as these are the only nuts that are rich in  calories and you do not want to consume so many on a daily basis.
    • Nutrition - listed are approximate values.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cup | Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 109mg | Potassium: 582mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 419IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 419mg | Iron: 3mg
    Tried this recipe?Share a photo! Mention @usha_myspicykitchen or tag #Usha_MySpicyKitchen!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Suma Gandlur says

      April 28, 2017 at 9:10 pm

      That is one creamy and tempting drink.

      Reply
    2. Pavani says

      March 29, 2017 at 9:23 pm

      Such a creamy and delicious drink.

      Reply
    3. srividhya says

      March 27, 2017 at 11:03 am

      Thandai and holi are inseparable. Love your shots.

      Reply
    4. Sarita says

      March 26, 2017 at 3:54 pm

      Lovely drink .. Amazing pics .. I made on Holi such a nice health comfort drink.

      Reply
    5. Harini-Jaya R says

      March 22, 2017 at 9:03 pm

      That is a lovely drink, Usha. When I made it a few weeks back, we just fell in love with the flavor and richness of it

      Reply
    6. Mireille Roc (@ChefMireille) says

      March 21, 2017 at 1:03 pm

      do you remember you got me the melon seeds when I made this a few years ago? I had loved the drink so well. So refreshing in summer. You are tempting me to make it again!

      Reply
    7. themadscientsist says

      March 18, 2017 at 2:54 am

      I picked up thandai masala mix in Delhi this time. Yet to make it. Love the way you have presented it.

      Reply
    8. Rajani says

      March 17, 2017 at 10:42 pm

      Even I had thandai recently (I mean 5-6 years back), but never tried making it at home

      Reply
    9. Sandhiya says

      March 13, 2017 at 4:08 pm

      Lovely presentation and i'm yet to try this famous drink.Looks so creamy and flavorful.

      Reply
    10. Srivalli Jetti says

      March 13, 2017 at 5:27 am

      Love your pictures Usha..so beautifully done!

      Reply
    11. Priya Suresh says

      March 12, 2017 at 9:57 am

      Very exotic and luxurious festive drink, loved it to the core when i tried them for a first time at home.

      Reply
    12. Vaishali Sabnani says

      March 12, 2017 at 9:46 am

      Perfect drink for the festival.it is so exotic and royal. Love the way you have served it.

      Reply

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    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

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