Sugarfree Thandai Recipe| Flavoured Milkshake | Holi special

This homemade Thandai recipe is a perfect addition to your Holi celebration and also to cool you inside out during summers. It’s creamy and bursting with flavours. Made with different nuts, seeds and spices make this drink absolutely delicious!! 

How to make sugarfree Thandai with step by step photos:

1. For soaking, take a bowl big enough to hold all the nuts and seeds. Put almonds, whole cashews, pistachios, raisins, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, netmug, watermelon seeds and poppy seeds(khus khus). You can replace the quantity of raisins with 1 tbsp of almond or other nuts of your choice. Add saffron strands too along with this to get the maximum out of this. NOTE: If you want a sugar free version, soak 8-10 deseeded dates along with this.
2. Boil 1/2 cup of water and pour it into this bowl of nuts. Cover and keep it aside for 2 hours. Simultaneously, boil 1 litre of milk. After its cooled, chill it in refrigerator.

3. After 2 hours of soaking, transfer the soaked nuts and seeds to the mixer chutney jar along with water.

4. Pulse it 2-3 times. Add 1/4 cup of water to this and grind it to a smooth paste. This is the ‘Thandai Paste’. Now, into a blender goes the remaining ingredients; ice cold milk (which you refrigerated), jaggery syrup, thandai paste and turmeric(optional). Blend it till everythings is well combined.

5. Now, you have to sieve this milkshake into a strainer. This step can be avoided, if you are using a good quality blender or if you are serving it to elders. Depending on the quality of blender, is the amount of residue remains. Don’t worry, if you end up getting a lot of residue and you don’t feel like wasting it. I do have a bonus recipe for you. Check this out!!

6. Pour this drink into a serving glass. Garnish it with chopped pistachios, rose petals or saffron strands. Serve chill!

Substitutions and Variations:

1. If you want to make a badam thandai, replace other nuts like cashews and raisins with almonds.
2. You can double or triple the quantity of pepper.
3. For a vegan substitution, replace whole milk with almond milk.
4. Turmeric is not added in classic / traditional Thandai. I have added as its good for immunity. So, its totally optional.
5. For a healthier version, replace sugar with jaggery powder / syrup, Date syrup or honey.
6. If you find the thandai is too thick , you can add water as per your choice.
7. Saffron is expensive, so its your personal choice to the amount you want to add. More of it will give a rich colour to the thandai.

Sugarfree Thandai Recipe| Flavoured Milkshake | Holi special

Recipe by MarinaCourse: DessertCuisine: Indian

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

2

hours 

Cooking time

5

minutes

Calories

384

kcal

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp Jaggery Syrup/ more or less as per your choice

• 1/4 tsp Turmeric

• Pinch Saffron

• 1 Litre Milk

• 1/4 cup Water

• For soaking: –

• 6 no Cashews, whole

• 12 nos. Almonds

• 1 tbsp Raisins

• 1 tbsp Pistachios

• 1 tbsp poppy seeds / khus khus

• 1 tbsp Watermelon seeds

• 8 nos Cardamoms

• 1/2 tsp Pepper Corns

• 1 tbsp Saunf (anise seeds)

• 2 tbsp Rose petals

• 1 inch Cinnamon Sticks

• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg

• 1/2 cup water

Directions

• Take a bowl. Add all the ingredients mentioned under soaking. Boil 1/2 cup of water and pour in this mixture. Cover and keep it aside. Let this soak for about 2 hours.
• Chill boiled and cooled milk in the refrigerator while the nuts are soaking.
• After 2 hours, transfer the soaked ingredients into a mixer jar along with saffron and remaining 1/4 cup of water.
• Grind this to a smooth paste.
• In a smoothie blender, pour ice cold milk, ground paste, jaggery syrup and turmeric powder(optional).
• Blend till well combined.
• Sieve the drink and serve chill. I got a lot of residue, so I reserved it to make something new. 

Notes

• Jaggery syrup can be replaced by date syrup.
• You can also soak 8-10 dates along with nuts and grind together for a sugar free drink.