Thandai Recipe (Flavored Spiced Drink)

An easy Thandai recipe that is refreshing, healthy and delicious. Make this traditional thandai or shardai during summers or the Holi festival for a cooling, nutty, spiced drink. I share the recipe with both a video and a step-by-step photo guide.

What is Thandai

Thandai is a traditional drink, popular in the northern parts of India. It is made with a mix of nuts, seeds and a few spices.

The word “thandai” means that which is cooling or cools and is derived from the word “thanda” which means “cool”or “cold” in Hindi language. It is also known as ‘shardai‘ or ‘sardai‘.

So as the name is, this beverage is cooling for the body. Some of the nuts, seeds, spices that make the thandai or shardai are cooling in nature like water-soaked almonds, poppy seeds, rose petals or gulkand (rose preserve) and fennel seeds.

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

Thandai is one of those drinks that is made during Holi Festival and Mahashivratri. Bhang (cannabis) thandai is also consumed during both these festivals.

We have had bhaang thandai during one Mahashivratri festival while on a spiritual tour in Banaras and Rishikesh.

About This Recipe

My thandai recipe is very easy to prepare. Simply soak the nuts, blend them and mix with milk or water.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can make ahead the thandai paste and refrigerate for a week or freeze it for 1 to 2 months.

When you want to make the shardai or thandai drink, mix the paste with milk and your cooling glass of thandai drink is ready.

This thandai recipe easily serves 8 to 9 glasses of the drink. It is easily scalable and you can make a small or large batch.

How to Make Thandai

Soaking Nuts, Seeds

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

1. In a bowl, pour 1 cup of 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 or kharbuja beej). You can omit these seeds if you do not have them 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, then 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.

8. Then add ½ teaspoon whole black pepper.

9. Mix very well. Cover and keep aside for minimum one hour or 2 hours. if you use water at room temperature, then you can also keep overnight or for 4 to 5 hours.

10. In the below photo the thandai mixture after 90 minutes.

Making Thandai Paste

11. Now pour the whole mixture including the soaking water in a grinder or blender jar. Do make sure to use a good grinder or blender.

12. Add ½ cup sugar.

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

14. Next add 1 pinch saffron. Saffron is optional and you can skip it.

15. Grind the mixture 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.

Making Thandai Drink

17. Take 4 tablespoons of the thandai paste in a glass. You can add less or more as per your requirements.

18. Add 1 cup of cold or chilled milk. You can also use half-half combination of milk and water. You can use almond milk instead of milk.

For some fruity variations follow these steps:

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

19. Mix very well.

20. Add a few ice cubes.

21. Garnish with rose petals and serve. You can also garnish with some chopped almonds or pistachios.

Serving Suggestions

22. Prepare the thandai drink and serve it straight away. Alternatively, make the shardai or thandai drink 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 serve.

This shardai or thandai recipes makes for 8 to 9 glasses. The recipe is scalable and you can make a small batch or a large batch for a crowd.

Expert Tips

• Nuts: Traditionally almonds and pistachios are included. Swap cashews with pistachios. For pistachios do not use the salted ones. Make sure that the nuts, seeds and spices you add are fresh and not rancid.
• Peeling almonds: You can use peeled almonds if you want. Just blanch the almonds separately in hot water for 30 minutes and then peel them.
• Seeds: Both poppy seeds and melon seeds are essential to the recipe. Due to their unavailability, omit adding these seeds. Replace melon seeds with unsalted peeled pumpkin seeds. Note that the flavor and taste will change slightly.
• Vegan options: Swap with almond milk, cashew milk or lite coconut milk for a vegan thandai or shardai. Almond milk is a better choice here.
• Rose flavors: Add gulkand (rose petals preserve) or rose water in place of dried rose petals. When adding gulkand reduce the sugar to ⅓ cup in the recipe.. 
• Thandai paste consistency: Blend or grind the paste very finely, especially if preparing for kids. You can even strain the thandai paste if you want. 

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This thandai recipe from the blog archives (March 2017) has been republished and updated on 26 March 2021.