Thandai Recipe

The festival of Holi is going to come very soon and if there is no cold on Holi then there is no joy in the colors of Holi. So on the festival of Holi, Thandai Recipe is made mostly at everyone's place. A popular and refreshing Indian thandai made with spices, seeds and dry fruits. It is an all-purpose drink that is served during Maha Shivratri or Holi festival to provide essential nutrients for the celebration. It can be made flavored with mango, rose and betel leaf or can be served plain with milk without any additional flavorings.

Most Indian festivals are celebrated with food and drink across India. The cuisine of each festival is created and served to meet specific needs. A good example of a purpose-based recipe is thandai, made with milk, dry fruits and spices for a day-long or night-long celebration. The standard thandai recipe is loved by most of us, but there are many better flavors and variations too. The possibilities for adding flavor and variations are endless, and almost anything can be added.

furthermore, i would like to add some more tips, additions and variations to Thandai Recipe. to begin with, the masala used in this recipe is a thick, wet paste that needs to be mixed with cold milk to make thandai. You can make thandai powder by dry roasting these ingredients and use it whenever needed. secondly, for a sweeter version, you can mix the same mixture with basundi or condensed milk. In fact, you can freeze them into popsicles to make kulfi. Lastly, the bhang drink very famous during the festival of Holi can be made from the same spice mix. Because marijuana and the same drink are mixed together.

Ingredients needed to make thandai:-
For thandai paste-
Less than ½ cup almonds (shelled)
2 tbsp pistachios
¼ cup cashews
¼ cup watermelon seeds
½ tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp fennel
8 pieces cardamom
5-6 threads of saffron
3 tbsp rose petals (dry)
2 cups water (for soaking)
Other ingredients-
Sugar
Milk
Pieces of ice
For flavor-
Mango
betel leaves
yellow food color (optional)
green food color (optional)

Thandai preparation method:-
Make paste-
1. To make thandai, first take a big bowl and add almonds, pistachios, cashews, watermelon seeds, black pepper, poppy seeds, fennel, cardamom, saffron threads and rose petals to the bowl. Will put all these in the bowl.
2. Now put 2 cups of water in the bowl and keep it soaked for at least 6 hours. If you have less time then soak all the ingredients in hot water for 2 hours.
3. Now we have to make a smooth paste by putting the soaked ingredients in a mixie jar with the same water.
Make thandai-
4. To make Thandai, add 1 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp Thandai spice paste, 2 cups cold milk in a jar. Now we will mix them. Now take a big glass and put some ice cubes in the glass.
5. Now pour the prepared thandai in a glass. Now your thandai is ready to drink.

Prepare mango flavored thandai-
6. To bring taste of mango in Thandai, put 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp Thandai masala, 2 tbsp mango pulp, 2 cups cold milk in a mixie jar and stir.
7. If you want color in cold. So 1 pinch of yellow food color can be applied.
8. Now your mango flavored thandai is ready, now you have to take a big glass and put some ice cubes in it and pour thandai on top. Now you can enjoy Thandai to the fullest and celebrate Holi with lots of colors.

Prepare betel flavored thandai-
9. To bring the taste of betel in thandai, we need betel leaves. So what are we to do? Put 2 betel leaves, 2 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp thandai masala and 2 cups cold milk in a mixer jar and mix it.
10. If you want color in paan thandai, you can use green food colour. So you have to add a pinch of green food color and stir till it becomes smooth. Now your paan wali thandai is ready.
11. Now you have to take a glass and put some ice cubes in it. Now pour the prepared thandai in a glass and enjoy.
12. In this way you can make 3 types of thandai at a time. Holi festival can be turned into more ragins and colors.
Note:-
. firstly, i have not added sugar in thandai masala paste as we can vary the quantity of sugar in each serving.
. Flavored thandai can also be made like rose, coffee or tea.
. Also, you can enjoy Holi by adding cannabis to it.
. finally, the traditional thandai recipe is a very healthy drink.