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Heta Sanghvi

Thandai Cheesecake

Thandai (spiced almond milk) cheesecake mousse is a perfect combination of traditional Indian drink Thandai and the famous New York cheesecake.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting Time 5 hours
Total Time 35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Fusion
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For crust
  • ¾ cup Marie or any other digestive biscuits crushed
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter melted
  • 1.5 tbsp sugar if your digestive biscuits are sweet, avoid adding sugar
For cheesecake mousse
  • ¾ cup or 6 oz cream cheese room temperature
  • ½ tsp saffron dissolved in 1 tbsp warm milk
  • 4-5 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp Thandai paste
  • ¾ cup heavy cream cold
For Thandai Paste (makes 5-6 tbsp)
  • ¼ cup almonds
  • ¼ cup cashews
  • ¼ tsp peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds
  • 1 tbsp melon seeds
  • 1 tbsp dry rose petals
  • 7-10 saffron strands optional, soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk
  • ½ cup milk or as needed
For Garnishing
  • Whipped cream I’ve used store-bought whipped cream with a dispenser for this recipe
  • A handful of dried roses
  • Mouth freshener mukhvas

Method
 

Making Thandai paste
  1. Put all ingredients under Thandai masala in a blender and blend it to a smooth paste.
Making crust
  1. Using a rolling pin, crush digestive biscuits
  2. In a bowl, add crushed digestive biscuits, sugar and melted butter
  3. Mix everything
  4. The crumbs should be moist
  5. Now divide the crumbs equally and add into serving bowls.
  6. Using a spoon or your fingers, push the crumbs until compact.
  7. Place the glass in the refrigerator till you make the cheesecake filling
Making cheesecake
  1. In a Mixing bowl, take cream cheese. It is important here that cream cheese should be at room temperature
  2. Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth
  3. Now add sugar, soaked saffron strands, and Thandai paste
  4. Mix everything using a hand mixer and set aside
  5. In a mixing bowl, take heavy cream. It is important here that the heavy cream should be cold
  6. Using a hand mixer, beat heavy cream till it forms peaks
  7. Now add whipped cream in cream cheese mixture in 2-3 parts and carefully fold it
  8. Once you have carefully folded the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture take the glasses out of the refrigerator
  9. Using a spoon, pour the mixture on top of the crust
  10. To remove any air or bubbles in cheesecake, tap the glasses over the kitchen surface
  11. Cover the glasses using the cling wrap and refrigerate it for 4-5 hours or overnight
For Garnishing
  1. Take the glasses from the refrigerator and add whipped cream on top
  2. Add dried roses and mouth freshener (mukhvas) for garnishing
  3. Serve it immediately

Notes

-    You can make Thandai paste in advance, it stays good for a week
-    Instead of cream cheese you can use, Mascarpone Cheese or hung curd (should be hung overnight in cheesecloth. It is a good idea to use store bought curd here as they are comparatively thickened and less sour)
-    You can put the mixing bowl and the hand mixer attachment in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before beating heavy cream
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