Happy Holi to all my readers and friends.
What is Thandai
Thandai in Hindi means “Coolant”. Holi is an Indian festival to celebrate the arrival of Spring. Holi is incomplete without Thandai. As long wintery days give way to vibrant spring, Holi is celebrated in India to celebrate this new season of colours, flavours.
Traditionally, Gujya / Karanji /karjikai (baked version here) Are made too. Some homes also make Jalebi along with Rabdi (sweetened reduced milk topped with saffron and nuts). Thandai is also served in different flavours - Kesar (saffron), Rose (Gulabi) and now the ever popular Chocolate version too.
Rost Thandai is a special dish made for festival of Holi. Thandai refers to chilled, flavoured milk made during summers. It is made in different flavours, Rose being one of them.
Other Summer Coolers include
Refer the Video below for a detailed recipe and step by step instructions. If you are visiting our channel for the first time, please don't forget to hit like ???? and subscribe to our channel ❤️. We appreciate your love and would eagerly wait to hear from from you on how we can bring your favourite dishes to our channel too ! Thanks a ton ????????
What do you need to make Thandai
Thandai can be made with homemade / store-bought powder or made with a base paste. Today, we shall be seeing the latter. The base ingredients for the instant powder or paste is the same, except for soaking in the 2nd method.
PIN FOR LATER
Rose Thandai
Equipment
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Wet Blender
Ingredients
- 20 Almonds
- 15 Cashews
- 10 Pistachio
- 1 tablespoon Melon Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Poppy Seeds
- 6 tablespoon Fresh / Dried Rose Petals
- 1 tablespoon Saunf / Fennel Seeds
- 8 Whole Cardamom
- 20 Whole Black Pepper
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 10 Golden Raisins
- 750 ml Chilled Milk
- Sugar To Taste
Instructions
- Soak all ingredients mentioned above except milk and sugar in water for 4-6 hours.
- Grind the ingredients with half the milk to a smooth paste.
- Add more rose petals , sugar and grind it with the rest of the milk to a very fine paste.
- Using a muslin cloth or a fine mesh strain it thoroughly.
- Serve chilled.
Video
Notes
Pro Tip - If not using this paste immediately, refrigerate for up to 4 days.Here, low fat milk is used as other ingredients as quite rich. But if preferred, full fat milk can be used. You can use any sweetener of your choice. Some recipes (though not traditional) even add honey or Stevia in place of sugar. The quantity of sugar used in the above recipe was around 3 tbsp. You may increase or decrease as per personal choice. Almond milk or any plant based milk may be used to make this completely vegan, although the final taste might vary a bit.
Archana says
Wow this is a cool site, Kalyani congratulations. Will love some thandai it's too hot here.
Kalyani says
Thank you, Arch! its 'sizzling' hot here too, so thandai always welcome
Renu says
Love thandai ...I never add cinnamon and rose petals, will try it next.
Kalyani says
Thank you, Renu.. Do try it next time with cinnamon & rose petals..
Shobha Keshwani says
Nice recipe. This is one of my favourite summer driink. I always look forward to summers so that we can make it and enjoy. I remember when I was a kid we used to have a special hand crusher / grinder for this and we used to help out mom as it was quite a tedious job.
Kalyani says
Thanks Shobha ji. The hand crushed delight must be something else...
What a delicious and fresh looking recipe. says
What a delicious and fresh looking recipe. I have never tried this so excited to taste!!
Kalyani says
Thanks a lot for dropping by 🙂 Do try this.. am sure you would like it a lot...
Neha says
Lovely post of rose thandai. Infact, today I had made if another set of instructions. But yours looks good too. Will try in the upcoming festivities.
Neha says
Lovely post of rose thandai. Infact, today I had made with another set of instructions. But yours looks good too. Will try in the upcoming festivities.
Kalyani says
thanks Neha, do try some other time!
Jayashree. T.Rao says
With summer approaching, rose thandai will be more than welcome. Looks like a refreshing drink.
Kalyani says
thank you, Jayashree ! here the summer is in full blaze already 🙂
Spice Zone (Sarika) says
Thandai looks so refreshing. I have made thandaai powder myself at home but never tried it as I am not a milk person. I only eat Kheer and stuff and avoid milky drinks. Yours look yummy, I don’t add cinnamon either.
Kalyani says
guess each family has their own way of making Thandai...
Priya says
A nice take on rose thandai . I make it in a slightly different way . Will try your recipe soon.its sizzling here,so such health drinks are welcome .
Kalyani says
thank you !
Seema Doraiswamy Sriram says
I can't describe in words how happy I m to have to have rose thandai! When we brave the heat of the sun, I love these soothing recipes more than any others.
Kalyani says
thank you, Seema. these homemade drinks are better any day than store bought ones, right!