Thandai | Cool drink

Sivarathiri and Holi re 2 festivals which are celebrated very grandly in North India. I have selected a recipe which is commonly made during these festivals in North India.  Thandai is a milk based drink with lot of dry fruits in it. Thandai is new to me. I am introduced to this drink through blogging world. Even when I recided in Maharashtra I didn't hear of this drink!!

I tasted thandai only after I made it. So I am not sure if that is the actual taste. It might not be since I replaced rose petals with kesar. However it tasted wonderful. I made with 1 litre milk and H took almost 75% of it. He loved it. It was a soothing drink for this summer and also made our stomachs full. So here comes the recipe of thandai the way I made it.

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 litre

Khus khus (Kasakasaa)  - 2 tsp

Almonds (Badam) – 15

Black Pepper – 12

Jeera (Cumin seeds) – 1/2 tsp

Elachi (cardamom) - 5

Sugar – 200 grams

Method:

• Soak all the ingredients (except milk and sugar) in water for 2 hours. Boil milk with sugar, cool down and keep refrigerated.
• After 2 hours, peel the almond skin and grind everything together with little water.
• Squeeze it through a strainer. Repeat one or two times with little more water to extract all the juice from it.
• Add this extract to cold milk and mix well. Refrigerate and consume after 2 hours.
• Garnish with rose petals or kesar.

Thandai is ready!!

Notes:

• You can also add cashew nuts for extra richness.
• I am not sure if this drink can be refrigerated for a long time. We finished it within 3-4 hours.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#74