Thandai Powder
This is our favorite homemade thandai powder recipe. It has much better flavors than store-bought thandai masala because this one is made without artificial flavors and colors.
This instant mix gets ready in 10 minutes and is made with real ingredients.
What Is Thandai Powder?
Thandai powder is an aromatic and flavorful blend of nuts, rose petals and spices.
When thandai powder is mixed with milk along with some sweetener (sugar), you’ll have the popular Indian drink thandai ready instantly.
The traditional thandai recipe requires soaking nuts, grinding them into paste and cooking. This process requires some time and pre-planning. But this instant powder comes in handy to make the thandai drink instantly.
Thandai is usually made during Indian festivals like Holi and Maha Shivratri.
It is also made during summer season as it has all the cooling property ingredients. This helps you beat the summer strokes (loo lagna in Hindi).
You’ll Love My Recipe Because
- Gets ready in 10 minutes.
- Made with high-quality real ingredients.
- No added colors.
- No artificial flavors.
- It has longer storage life when stored in the refrigerator.
- Scalable: You can double, triple, or halve the recipe as needed.
Ingredient Notes
- Nuts: Almonds, Cashews and Pistachios are used. Pistachios are optional.
- Melon seeds: Also known as magajtari or kharbuje ka beej.
- Poppy seeds: These are Indian white poppy seeds aka khas khas.
- Fennel seeds: It adds a nice aroma, and sweet flavor. It is super cooling to your body (perfect for summer).
- Spices: Peppercorns, cinnamon and seeds of green cardamoms are used. All add a nice flavor as well as an aroma.
- Saffron: Adds a flavor and natural color to the drink.
- Dried rose petals: I highly recommend not skipping it. They add a beautiful aroma and refreshing flavor. I have bought a packet of dried rose petals from amazon. Or you can easily find at any large Indian grocery stores here in the USA.
Step By Step Photo Instructions
1) Take almonds, cashews and pistachios in a pan and dry roast on low heat until they warm up. No need for color change.
2) During the last minute of roasting, add melon seeds and roast them for a minute only.
3) Remove it to a plate and keep it aside.
4) Take the rest ingredients (poppy seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, green cardamom seeds, cinnamon, rose petals and saffron) in the same pan.
5) Dry roast with stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes only.
6) Remove it to the same plate and let the mixture cool down completely.
7, 8, 9) Using a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) make a fine powder out of it. Because my grinder is small I did this in batches and mixed the powder evenly at the end.
Store this in an airtight container in the fridge.
Make The Drink Using Thandai Powder
- Take ¼ cup of milk and heat it in a microwave just until it starts to boil. Instead, do this in a pan on the stovetop.
- Add 2-3 teaspoons sugar and 1 tablespoon thandai powder.
- Mix and let it rest in the fridge for 30-40 minutes or until the milk is chilled.
- After resting time, you will notice that milk gets a pale yellow color from saffron.
- Add the remaining ¾ cup of cold milk and stir.
- Strain the milk and discard the paste. Garnish it with rose petals and serve.
Expert Tips
- Dry roast the ingredients just until warmed up. No need to look for color change. We are roasting them just to make sure that there is no moisture in them left. So powder can have a longer shelf life.
- Remove the nuts from the fridge ahead of time and bring them to room temperature.
- Do not grind the powder in one go. Use the pulse mode otherwise, oil starts to ooze out from the nuts.
- If you want to make a large batch of this drink for party then follow this thandai recipe.
Storage Instructions
- Store It in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator
- It stays fresh for up to 3 months in the refrigerator. As time goes on, it starts to lose its aroma.
- Always use a clean and dry spoon to take the needed amount from the jar. Once done, immediately close the lid and put it back into the fridge.
- Shelf life also depends on the quality and freshness of the nuts you have used. I do not recommend using nuts that have an expiration date nearing if planning to store it for longer.
Other Uses Of Thandai Powder
- Indian desserts: Add around 2 tablespoons of it in 4 servings for kheer, basundi, rabri, phirni, etc to get thandai flavor.
- Frozen desserts: Add into your homemade kulfi or ice cream mixture before freezing.
- Fusion desserts: Use in making mousse, thandai cake, cookies, cupcakes, cheesecake, etc.
- Breakfast: Add 1 tablespoon in 1 serving of overnight oats.
Check Out Other Similar Recipes
Thandai Powder Recipe
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)
Ingredients
For Thandai Powder:
- ½ cup Almonds
- ¼ cup Pistachios
- ¼ cup Cashew nuts
- 2 tablespoons Melon seeds, (Charmagaz, magaj tari na beej, kharbuje ka beej)
- 2 tablespoons Khas khas (White poppy seeds)
- 1 ½ tablespoons Fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Black peppercorns
- 8 Green cardamoms, seeds only
- ½ inch Cinnamon stick
- 20-25 strands Saffron
- 2 tablespoons Dried rose petals
To Make Drink (1 serving):
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 tablespoon Thandai powder
- 2-3 teaspoons Sugar
Instructions
- Take almonds, cashews and pistachios in a pan and dry roast on low heat until they warm up. No need for color change.
- During the last minute of roasting, add melon seeds and roast them for a minute only.
- Remove it to a plate and keep it aside.
- Take the rest ingredients (poppy seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, green cardamom seeds, cinnamon, rose petals and saffron) in the same pan. Dry roast with stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes only.
- Remove it to the same plate and let the mixture cool down completely.
- Using a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) make a fine powder out of it. Use a pluse mode instead of grinding constantly. Because my grinder is small I did this in batches and mix the powder evenly at the end.
- Store this instant mix powder in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Make Drink:
- Take ¼ cup of milk and heat it in a microwave just until it starts to boil. Instead, do this in a pan on the stovetop.
- Add 2-3 teaspoons sugar and 1 tablespoon thandai powder.
- Mix and let it rest in the fridge for 30-40 minutes or until the milk is chilled.
- After resting time, you will notice that milk gets a pale yellow color from saffron.
- Add the remaining ¾ cup of milk and stir.
- Strain the milk and discard the paste. Garnish it with rose petals and serve.
Notes
- Dry roast the ingredients just until warmed up. No need to look for color change. We are roasting them just to make sure that there is no moisture in them left. So it can have a longer shelf life.
- Remove the nuts from the fridge ahead of time and bring them to room temperature.
- Do not grind the powder in one go. Use the pulse mode otherwise, oil starts to ooze out from the nuts.
