Banarasi Thandai Spiced Cold Milk

Method

1. 1

   Soak all the nuts and seeds: Soak almonds in warm water for 1 hour — the skin will loosen. Peel the almonds after soaking — squeeze each one and the skin will slip off. Soak poppy seeds and melon seeds separately in warm water for 15 minutes.

2. 2

   Grind the nut-spice paste: Drain the soaked almonds, poppy seeds and melon seeds. Place in a mixer with fennel seeds, dried rose petals and 4 tbsp water. Grind for 3 to 4 minutes until a very smooth, creamy paste forms. Stop and scrape down the sides during grinding. The paste should have no gritty texture.

3. 3

   Add remaining spices to the paste: Add coarsely ground black pepper, cardamom powder and saffron milk to the ground paste. Blend for 30 more seconds.

4. 4

   Add milk gradually: Add 1 cup of the chilled milk to the paste in the mixer. Blend together for 1 minute. Add the remaining milk gradually, blending between each addition, until all the milk is combined with the paste.

5. 5

   Sweeten: Add sugar to the milk mixture. Blend briefly to dissolve. Taste — the thandai should be creamy, cool, fragrant with rose and fennel, mildly spiced with black pepper, and well-sweetened. Add more sugar if needed.

6. 6

   Strain the thandai: Pour the milk through a fine-mesh strainer or through a muslin cloth into a large jug. Press the residue against the strainer to extract all the liquid. The strained thandai should be smooth and creamy with no grit.

7. 7

   Chill thoroughly: Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The thandai tastes significantly better when very cold.

8. 8

   Stir before serving: Before pouring, stir the thandai well — the nut particles may settle slightly at the bottom.

9. 9

   Serve over ice: Fill tall glasses with ice cubes. Pour the chilled thandai over the ice.

10. 10

    Garnish: Add a few dried rose petals and a pinch of finely sliced pistachio on top of each glass.

11. 11

    Note: Thandai (thanda means cold in Hindi) is the traditional Holi drink of Varanasi (Banaras) and the Hindi-speaking belt of North India. It is consumed throughout the Holi festival. The combination of poppy seeds, melon seeds and almonds provides natural cooling properties in Ayurveda. Banaras is particularly famous for its thandai — the shops near the Ganges ghats sell thandai in terracotta cups year-round, but demand peaks dramatically during Holi.