Ingredients:
5 cups milk
20 almonds
15 cashews
15 pistachios
2 tablespoons sliced nuts for garnish
2 tablespoon watermelon seeds
2 tablespoon poppy seeds
2 tablespoon fennel seeds
10 green cardamoms
1 inch cinnamon
1 pinch saffron
30 rose petals or 5 tablespoon rose-water (Gulab jal)
6 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
5 black pepper (to taste)
6 Ice cubes (optional for serving)
Method:
1. Soak almonds, cashews and pistachios for 4 to 8 hours.
2. Peel the almond skin and add them to a blender jar.
3. Peel pistachios and add them to the blender jar.
4. Add cashews, melon seeds, poppy seeds, fennel seeds, cardamoms, cinnamon, black pepper, rose petals and saffron to the blender jar.
5. Blend all to make a coarse paste. Pour half cup milk and blend to a very smooth paste.
Method
6. Bring rest of milk to a boil in a pot and turn off the stove.
7. Add sugar and the smooth paste and stir well to mix with the milk.
8. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 to 8 hours.
9. Filter thandaai mix in another bowl. Squeeze the solids in the filter to extract all the milk.
10. Add 2 ice cubes, 1 tablespoon gulab jal to each serving glass.
11. Pour thandaai mix to the serving glasses and stir.
12. Garnish with rose petals and sliced nuts and serve.
Recipe Servings: 5-6
Prep Time: 4-6 hours
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Cook Time: 6 hours
Difficulty Level: Medium
About Thandaai Recipe: This north Indian cold beverage made with milk, nuts and spices is very good for the summers. Its nutrition value and cool temperature is appropriate to beat the heat.