Maha Shivratri 2020: How To Make Thandai And Impress Your Guests

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Thandai is an essential ingredient of both your Shivratri. This year Maha Shivratri is on 21 February and therefore, you can prepare this easy recipe to impress your guests.

This recipe is prepared in combination with intoxicants like bhang as a offering to the deity Shiva. However, the basic lassi recipe for Thandai can be made with milk, dry fruits and some spices. This Mahashivratri recipe is actually a sherbet or cool beverage of almonds and milk seasoned with Indian spices.

As a Holi recipe too it's utility cannot be forgone. It is a cooling drink that will give you energy after a mayhem of colour fights. This lassi recipe being sweet gives you a lot of energy when you are fasting (off solid foods). So to try this recipe on Mahashivratri will ensure you get your vital nutrients and the energy to celebrate despite avoiding solid foods.

Ingredients For Thandai:

1. Whole milk 1 litre (creaminess comes from whole milk)
2. Almonds 1 cup (soaked and skinned)
3. Black peppercorns 10
4. Cardamom 8
5. Fennel seeds 1 tablespoon (saunf)
6. Poppy seeds 1 tablespoon (khus-khus soaked)
7. Sugar 1 cup
8. Salt 1 pinch

Procedure For Making Thandai:

• Grind the almonds with a few tablespoons of milk in it. Grind it so fine that so grains of the almonds are not visible anymore.
• The spices too need to be ground in a separate dry blender. You can roast them on a pan before grinding to enrich the flavours.
• Boil the milk and let it bubble over a little.
• Now mix the almonds and the spices in the boiled warm milk and whip it for at least 5 minutes to get a creamy frothing texture.
• Now strain the milk combination from a sieve to separate the solid particles from the cool beverage. You can either grind it again in the blender and reintroduce into the drink or just throw it away.
• Mix sugar in 2 to 3 cups of water (depending on how dense you want your drink) until the sugar dissolves totally.
• Dilute the drink with this sugar solution, pour into large glasses and add a pinch of salt to each glass for seasoning.

You must serve thandai cooled in the fridge because the name itself mean 'cool'.