Thandai Recipe (Authentic Holi Drink)
A traditional North Indian cold drink made with soaked nuts, seeds, and whole spices blended into a fragrant milk base. Make the thandai syrup up to 5 days ahead and assemble glasses in minutes.
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
For the Thandai Paste (Syrup)
- 20 raw almonds
- 10 cashews
- 2 tablespoons melon seeds magaz
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds khas khas
- 10 pistachios unsalted
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 4 green cardamom pods seeds removed
- 6 whole black peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons dried rose petals
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 pinch saffron soaked in 2 tablespoons warm milk
To Assemble Each Glass
- 1 cup cold full-fat milk or oat milk for vegan
- 2 tablespoons thandai paste
- 1-2 teaspoons sugar or rose syrup to taste
- Ice cubes
Garnish
- Chopped pistachios
- Dried rose petals
- Saffron strands
Instructions
Soak the Nuts and Seeds
- Combine almonds, cashews, melon seeds, poppy seeds, and pistachios in a bowl.
- Cover with water and soak for at least 4 hours, or overnight for the smoothest, creamiest result.
- Drain and rinse before blending.
Make the Thandai Paste
- Add the drained nuts and seeds to a blender with the fennel seeds, cardamom seeds, black peppercorns, dried rose petals, sugar, and saffron-soaked milk.
- Blend on high for 2 minutes until smooth.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of cold water or milk to loosen if needed, then blend again until completely smooth.
- Transfer to a clean jar with a lid. The paste keeps in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Assemble and Serve
- Stir 2 tablespoons of thandai paste into 1 cup of cold milk until fully dissolved.
- Add sugar or rose syrup to taste.
- Pour over ice and garnish with chopped pistachios, dried rose petals, and saffron strands.
- Serve immediately, very cold.
Notes
Overnight soaking gives the smoothest, most flavourful paste with no graininess — worth the extra time.
Make-ahead syrup: Scale the paste recipe by 3 or 4 and store in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. Stir before each use as the paste settles.
Vegan version: Replace whole milk with full-fat oat milk or cashew milk. Almond milk is too thin. Use warm oat milk for the saffron soak too.
For a sweeter concentrate, blend 4-5 tablespoons of sugar into the paste so glasses need no extra sweetening.
Storage: Assembled thandai is best same day. The paste (syrup) keeps refrigerated in a sealed jar for up to 5 days.
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