Thandai Recipe (Traditional Holi Drink)

If there’s one thing that is synonymous with the festival of Holi (apart from colors), is the quintessential summer beverage Thandai which is a flavored spiced and sweet drink. So, on this post, I have shared an easy-peasy Thandai recipe that is not just refreshing and delightful, but is healthy too. Make this traditional cooling, nutty and spiced Indian beverage, also known as ‘Shardai’ during summers or Holi festival. Or just about any other time as well. The recipe on this post has both a video and a step-by-step photo guide.

About Thandai

The word Thandai means that, which is cooling or cools as it is derived from the word ‘thanda’ which essentially means ‘cool’ or ‘cold’ in Hindi language.

Since the Thandai recipe also is a cooling drink for the body, hence the name. This classic beverage is also referred to as ‘shardai‘ or ‘sardai.‘

Thandai is a traditional drink, primarily made during the festival of colors Holi and is popular in the northern parts of India.

The main composition of this beverage consists of a sweetened mix of nuts, seeds and a few spices, which forms a paste. This paste is then diluted with milk that makes for the refreshing drink.

With a nutty, milky taste, the Thandai recipe has a heady aroma and sweet scented flavors of the rose, cardamom and saffron coupled together with some hits of pungency from the black pepper.

Like I mentioned earlier, it is super cooling for the body majorly because of the water-soaked almonds (badam), poppy seeds (khus khus), fennel seeds (saunf) and rose petals or gulkand (rose preserve) in it.

Thandai is one of those drinks that is made during the popular Hindu festivals of Holi and Mahashivratri too. A typical bhang (cannabis) Thandai is also common during both these festivals. Once on our spiritual tour in Banaras and Rishikesh in North India, even we got the chance to try the bhang variant of this beverage.

About My Recipe

My Thandai Recipe is simple, non-fussy and very easy to prepare. You only have to soak the nuts/seeds, blend them with sugar and spices and mix with milk or water.

So, the nuts/seeds that I use in my recipe are almonds, poppy seeds and melon seeds. The spices that go into it are fennel seeds, black peppercorns, green cardamoms and saffron. An added flavor is that of dried rose petals or gulkand.

The beauty of this Thandai recipe is that you can make ahead the Thandai paste and refrigerate for a week or freeze it for 1 to 2 months. And when you want to make the beverage, just mix the paste with milk and your cooling glass of Thandai is ready in no time.

This recipe makes for about 8 to 9 glasses of the drink. It is easily scalable and you can make a small or large batch for a crowd.

How to make Thandai

Soak Nuts, Seeds, Spices

Before you begin with the recipe, ensure that the nuts, seeds and spices are fresh and not rancid.

1. In a bowl, pour 1 cup warm water.

2. Then, add 3 tablespoons almonds, preferably rinsed.

Note: You can opt to use peeled almonds, if you prefer. Simply blanch the almonds in a separate bowl in hot water for 30 minutes and later peel them.

3. Next, add 2 heaped tablespoons pistachios (unsalted), preferably rinsed.

Instead of pistachios, you can also use cashews.

4. Then, add 2 tablespoons white poppy seeds (khus khus).

Omit, if you do not have these tiny white seeds.

5. Next, add ¼ cup melon seeds (magaz).

You can omit these seeds, if you do not have or as an alternative use peeled pumpkin seeds (unsalted).

6. The next ingredient to be added is 2 tablespoons dried rose petals.

If you do not have dried rose petals, add 2 tablespoons rose water or 2 tablespoons gulkand. If you plan to add gulkand, reduce the sugar to ⅓ cup in the recipe.

7. Add 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (saunf).

8. Then, add ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns.

9. Mix very well. Cover and keep aside for 1 to 2 hours. 

If you use water at room temperature, then you can also keep overnight or for 4 to 5 hours in the refrigerator.

10. The picture below shows the soaked mixture after 90 minutes.

Make Thandai Paste

11. Now, pour the whole mixture including the soaking water in a grinder or blender jar. Make sure to use a good high speed grinder or blender.

12. Add ½ cup sugar.

13. Then, add seeds from 3 to 4 green cardamoms.

14. Next, add 1 pinch saffron or about 15 to 18 strands.

Saffron is optional and you can skip it.

15. Grind to a very smooth and fine paste. Remove in a bowl and keep aside.

You can cover and refrigerate, if not using immediately. No need to add extra water while grinding.

Note: You need to grind the ingredients to a super fine texture here so that you do no get a grainy or gritty taste in the thandai drink. If your mixer or blender is unable to make a fine paste, I recommend to strain the paste.

Make Thandai Drink

16. Take 4 tablespoons of the prepared Thandai paste in a glass.

You can add less or more as per your requirements.

17. Add 1 cup chilled milk. You can also use half-half combination of milk and water. You can use almond milk instead of dairy milk.

For some fruity variations follow these steps:

1. Mango Thandai: Include ¼ to ⅓ cup mango pulp before adding the milk as needed. Taste and add more milk, if required.
2. Strawberry Thandai: Add ¼ to ⅓ cup crushed or pureed strawberries.
3. Litchi Thandai: Mix in ⅓ to ½ cup litchi puree. To make litchi puree, simply blend peeled litchi in a blender.
4. Chocolate Thandai: Dissolve 1 to 2 tablespoons drinking chocolate with the milk and Thandai paste. Taste and add more sugar, if needed.

18. Mix very well.

19. Add a few ice cubes.

20. Garnish with rose petals. You can also garnish with some chopped almonds or pistachios.

21. Serve Thandai drink immediately.

Alternatively, make the beverage in a large mug or jug. Refrigerate and then serve chilled. While serving later, mix and stir the drink in the mug or jar and then pour in glasses.

Storage

The Thandai paste keeps well refrigerated for about a week and frozen for about a month. Keep it in a covered container in your refrigerator or freezer.

Later, thaw if frozen and mix the paste with chilled milk. Garnish with nuts and relish the lovely flavors of this summer drink.

The prepared Thandai drink keeps well for about 1 to 2 days in the fridge. You can opt to make the drink in a large jar and refrigerate for some hours until cold to be served later.

Variations

You can experiment with this recipe and make a variety of other flavorful variations of this summer beverage at home. Some of the easy ones are:

• Chocolate Thandai: Just mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons of drinking chocolate or drinking cocoa with milk and the thandai paste. If needed, add more sugar.
• Strawberry Thandai: Mix in ¼ to ⅓ cup of crushed or pureed strawberries made from fresh or frozen strawberries.
• Mango Thandai: Yes, the ‘king of fruits’ enhances the flavors of this drink all the more. Just add ¼ to ⅓ cup mango pulp (homemade or packaged/bottled) with the paste and milk. Mix well, taste and add more milk, if required.
• Litchi Thandai: If you are a litchi lover, add ⅓ to ½ cup of litchi puree made with fresh litchi fruits. To make litchi puree, simply blend peeled litchi in a blender.

In this way, you can go creative, make for your kind of Thandai Recipe and enjoy it with family, relatives and friends.

Expert Tips

1. Nuts: Almonds and pistachios are always added in a traditional Thandai Recipe. But you can swap the pistachios with cashews. For pistachios, do not use the salted ones. Make sure that the nuts, seeds and spices you add are fresh and not rancid.
2. Almonds: You can use peeled almonds, if you want. Just blanch the almonds separately in hot water for 30 minutes and then peel them.
3. Seeds: Both poppy seeds and melon seeds are essential to the recipe. If there’s an unavailability, omit adding these seeds. Replace melon seeds with unsalted peeled pumpkin seeds. However, with this, the flavor will change slightly.
4. Paste consistency: Blend or grind the paste very finely, especially if preparing for kids. You can even strain the paste, if you want. A fine paste will give you a smooth texture in your drink and not a gritty or grainy mouthfeel. If your grinder or blender is not able to make a fine paste, I suggest to strain the paste.
5. Flavoring: Add gulkand (rose petals preserve) or rose water in place of dried rose petals. If adding gulkand, reduce the sugar to ⅓ cup in the recipe.
6. Vegan options: Swap the dairy milk with almond milk, cashew milk or light coconut milk for a vegan version of this drink. Almond milk is a better choice here.

FAQs

Thandai recipe from the blog archives was first published on March 2017.