Three glasses serving spiced saffron and rosewater milk (thandai)

Thandai

Name: Thandai
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: ¾ tbsp melon seeds (char magaz) or pine nuts; ¾ tbsp white poppy seeds; 15g almonds blanched; 15g pistachios; ½ tsp ground cardamom; 1 tsp fennel seeds; 6 black peppercorns; 750ml whole milk; 30g caster sugar; ½ tsp saffron strands soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk for 1 hr; 1-2 tsp rosewater; 1 tsp dried rose petals (optional)

Roopa Gulati

Save recipe

Serves 4

Easy

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 20 mins

plus overnight steeping, cooling and chilling

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.2 ratingsRate

loading...

Enriched with nuts and infused with spices and rosewater, this chilled milk drink is traditionally served during Holi, India’s festival of colour

Gluten-free

Vegetarian

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Gujiya

A star rating of 0 out of 5.0 ratings

Puris with potato masala (alu puri)

A star rating of 3.4 out of 5.3 ratings

Saffron flatbread filled with lentils & jaggery (puran poli)

A star rating of 5 out of 5.1 rating

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

¾ tbsp melon seeds

(char magaz) or pine nuts
¾ tbsp white poppy seeds
15g almonds

blanched
15g pistachios
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp fennel seeds
6 black peppercorns
750ml whole milk
30g caster sugar
½ tsp saffron strands

soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk for 1 hr
1-2 tsp rosewater
1 tsp dried rose petals

(optional)

Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.

Nutrition: Per serving

kcal207
fat13g
saturates5g
carbs15g
sugars14g
fibre1g
protein8g
salt0.15g

Method

step 1

Put the melon seeds or pine nuts, poppy seeds, almonds, pistachios, cardamom, fennel seeds and peppercorns in a small bowl. Pour over enough boiling water to submerge everything, then cover the bowl and leave it at room temperature to soften overnight.
step 2

Pour the milk into a medium pan and add the spiced nut mixture along with the soaking water. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, then simmer over a low heat, uncovered, for 10 mins. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the sugar and saffron strands along with the milk they were soaked in.
step 3

Leave to cool until lukewarm, then blitz using a blender until smooth. Strain the milk through a double-layer of muslin into a jug and add the rosewater to taste. Chill the thandai, then pour into small glasses and sprinkle over dried rose petals, if you like.

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.2 ratings

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.

Subscribe now