Thandai Masala Powder is a quick and easy premix to make a tasty thandai cold drink. Basically , thandai is an Indian cold drink prepared with a mixture of nuts , seeds , spices and milk.
Traditionally Thandai is made by soaking spices and nuts in milk / water overnight. Then its ground to fine paste, mixed with milk , filtered , chilled and then serve.
Thandai is specially made during Maha Shivratri and Holi festival , other popular holi recipes are Thandai Kulfi , Basundi , Pista Badam Kulfi , Gujiya and Kesar Badam Milk .
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About this recipe
Holi is incomplete without Thandai , a must drink for the festive of colors. For making traditional Thandai , one needs to plan before to soak nuts and seeds for minimum 6-8 hours or overnight.
But with this Thandai Masala powder recipe , you can still enjoy delicious beverage at any time of the day by just mixing Thandai Masala Powder with milk.
Why you need to try this ?
- Easy to make
- Simple
- Better than store bought
- Economical
- Scalable
- Comes handy in many other recipes
- Most importantly , tastes delicious
Ingredients
Thandai masala powder is a combination of nuts , seeds , spices and dry rose petals. You may need quiet a few ingredients to make this homemade thandai premix.
Nuts – Almonds and cashews nuts are used along with pistachios to make Thandai. But here I have used only almonds and cashew nuts. If you prefer , you can use pistachios too. Though few adds walnuts too , I personally don't suggest. As it releases oil very easily while blending into powder.
Spices – Green cardamoms and Peppercorns are main spices that get into Thandai . Green Cardamom adds flavor , whereas black peppercorns give a hint of heat to thandai , making other flavors to pop out!
Seeds – Traditionally , melon seeds, poppy seeds, and fennel seeds get into this. Though its recommended to add all the ingredients , If any of these spices are unavailable then feel free to skip adding them to the recipe.
Saffron – Saffron strands adds flavor and hint of color to the drink making it look more beautiful and flavorful.
Dry Rose Petals – The lingering aroma of rose in this drink makes this thandai drink more flavorful .Though it is optional, I recommend adding it. Incase if it's unavailable be sure to add few drops of rose water to Thandai drink.
How to make Thandai with premix
To make Thandai with this premix ,there are 2 methods
Method 1 : Add Thandai Masala Powder to the boiled milk along with some sugar ,few drops of rose water. That's it , let it sit for some hours for flavors to infuse with milk and later chill in refrigerator until serving.
Method 2 : Soak thandai masala powder ( premix) in lukewarm water/ milk for 15-20 minutes and grind to fine paste . Mix this fine ground masala with milk , stir well , boil along with milk for 5 minutes . Once it's cools down ,refrigerate and serve chilled garnished with some rose petals , slivered nuts and saffron strands.
You can check on how to make Instant Thandai drink here
Tips
- Always pulse in intervals , as nuts may release oil. Pulse for few seconds , scrape sides with a spoon and again blend. Don't blend too much at a stretch , as nuts release oil and it may form lumps.
- You can also add ½ cup of sugar and pulse spices and nuts together , this way you can avoid thandai powder turning out sticky.
- Use 2 tablespoon of Thandai Masala Powder for every 250 ml of milk , to make Thandai Drink or any other dessert !
Step by step directions to make Thandai Masala
Keep all the measured ingredients ready .
Place all the ingredients in a dry mixer jar / blender.
Blend everything to a powder . Be careful while blending, as nuts may release oil. Blend for few seconds , stir it with a spoon and again blend. Don't blend too much at a stretch , as nuts release oil and it may form lumps.
Store it in a airtight jar and use it as required.
This post has been updated from the archives, was first published in March 2019
Recipe
Thandai Masala Powder
Ingredients
- ½ cup Almonds
- ⅓ cup Cashews
- 25-30 no's Cardamom Seeds
- 20-25 no's Black peppercorns , around ½ teaspoon
- 2 tablespoon Poppy Seeds / Khus khus
- 2 tablespoon Melon Seeds
- 2 tablespoon Fennel Seeds
- 2 tablespoon Dry Rose Petals
- ¼ teaspoon Saffron Stands
Instructions
- Transfer all ingredients into a dry mixer jar .
- Pulse for few seconds , stop the mixer jar and scrape sides .
- Again start to pulse for few secons and stop. Pepeat this process of pulsing in intervals for few seconds until all nuts and spices are powdered.
- Don't pulse more or overdo it as nurts and seeds ,starts to release oil and it becomes sticy .
- Once the seeds and nuts are powdered enough , remove from the jar and store in dry glass jar.
- Thandai masala powder stays good for upto 3 months in refrigerator ,
Video
Notes
- To make thandai drink , mix 2 tablespoon of thandai masala powder in water/ milk , blend to fine paste and mix with 250 ml of hot milk. Once flavours infuse, strain milk, chill and serve.
- You can also add ½ cup of sugar and blend spices and nuts , this way you can avoid thandai powder turning out sticky.
- Use 2 tablespoon of Thandai Masala Powder for every 250 ml of milk , to make Thandai Drink or any other dessert !
Pranita says
So nice recipe.
Muktha says
Thanks Pranita 🙂
Prasanthi says
Nice recipe but poppy seeds measurement is missing
Muktha says
Thanks a ton Prasanthi for the correction , updated 🙂