Thandai is a cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, rose petals, pepper, poppy seeds, cardamom, saffron, milk an sugar. Could be easily found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan – mostly in Peshawar. It is native to India and is often associated with the Mahasivratri and Holi festival.
Ingredients for Thandai Recipe
- Almonds – 10
- Saun/Fennel seeds– 2 tsp
- Black Peppercorns – 1 tsp
- Elaichi/Cardamom – 12
- Poppy seeds/Khus Khus – 2 tbsp
- Rose water – ½ cup
- Milk – 2 cups
- Water – 3 big glasses
- Sugar – 2 cups
- Kesar/saffron – a few strands
- Rose petals – for garnishing
- Crushed ice – for serving
Procedure for preparing Thandai Recipe
Soak the almonds in water for at least 6 hours and then peel the skin off.
Grind the cardamom,fennel seeds, poppy seeds and Black peppercorns and keep aside.
Grind the almonds in a smooth paste and then add the prepared powder of cardamom,fennel seeds, poppy seeds and Black peppercorns to it and also a little water and grind again till a smooth paste is formed.
In the same grinder add the remaining water and sugar and grind again till the sugar is fully dissolved. Strain this through a cheesecloth or very fine strainer and let it pour in a big jar. the remaining powder that collects in the cheesecloth add some more water to it and grind it again and strain it once again in the cheesecloth and remove the powder that remains.
Add milk, rosewater to the strained thandai and chill it in the refrigerator.
Once the thandai is chilled serve chilled with crushed ice and garnish the thandai with saffron strands and rose petals.
This recipe serves – 4 glasses of thandai.