Homemade Instant Thandai Powder (Thandai Masala)

Love Thandai but don’t have time to make it? Then try this 5-minute Homemade Instant Thandai Powder (Thandai Masala) and make a glass of your favorite beverage instantly (vegan, gluten-free).

Here are some more homemade powder recipes, that you can make with simple ingredients – Sambar Powder, Dry Mint Powder, Garam Masala Powder, Bisi Bele Bath Powder, and Cumin Powder.

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• About This Recipe
• Ingredients
• How to Make Thandai Powder
• Usage Suggestions
• Storage Suggestions
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About This Recipe

Prepared with a combination of aromatic spices, nuts, and seeds, Homemade Thandai Powder (Thandai Masala, Thandai Drink Mix) comes together in just 5 minutes. It is used to make the popular North Indian cooling beverage, Thandai which is made during the festival of Holi, the festival of colors, and also Maha Shivratri.

Making thandai recipe is a little bit of a tedious process. The traditional way to make this Indian drink is by soaking the nuts and spices in milk or water overnight and then grinding them to a fine paste. This paste is then mixed with more milk along with a few other ingredients.

With time becoming a big constraint in most people’s lifestyles and the availability of machines that can do an awesome job with grinding, this Thandai masala powder comes in very handy when you like to sip on a chilled glass of this popular drink but have a time crunch.

Making instant thandai powder recipe at home is easy and quick and homemade powder is definitely better than the store-bought one. The homemade powder is made using high-quality ingredients and there are no added colors or preservatives added to it.

This recipe can be scaled up or down as per your requirement.

You can also try my Thandai Syrup recipe which can also be used to make delicious thandai for Holi festival.

Ingredients

Nuts – I have used almonds and cashew nuts. You can use pistachios and walnuts too.

Spices – Green cardamoms add a beautiful flavor, whereas black peppercorns give a hint of heat to thandai.

Seeds – We will need melon seeds, poppy seeds, and fennel seeds. These seeds are easily available at Indian grocery stores. If poppy seeds are not available where you live, you can skip adding them to the recipe.

Saffron – Saffron strands adds richness and also a hint of yellow color.

Dry Rose Petals – This is optional, but I love the flavor they give to the Thandai drink mix. Not only taste, but they also add to the aroma.

How to Make Thandai Powder

Add ½ cup whole almonds, ½ cup whole cashew nuts, 25-30 whole black peppercorns, 20-25 whole green cardamoms, 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds, 2 tablespoon fennel seeds, 2 tablespoon melon seeds, 15-20 strands of saffron and 2 tablespoon dried rose petals to the medium jar of a grinder or a food processor and grind to make a fine powder.

Note – You can also dry roast the ingredients for 3-4 minutes on low flame before grinding to enhance their flavor even more.

Do not over-grind otherwise, the nuts will release their oil and the powder will become sticky. Just pulse a few times. Then let the mixture cool down for 5 minutes. Pulse again and keep cooling the mixture in between. Pulse until a powder is made.

Store the powder in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to a week.

To make Thandai using homemade Thandai powder, heat full-fat milk in a pan over medium heat. Once the milk comes to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of Thandai masala powder per cup of milk and cook for 2-3 minutes for the flavors to seep into the milk. Add sugar to taste and cook for another minute for it to dissolve. Refrigerate the milk for 1-2 hours or until chilled. Strain it using a fine-mesh strainer or a muslin cloth. Stir in a few drops of rose water and add a few ice cubes. Garnish with dried rose petals and serve chilled.

Usage Suggestions

Not only Thandai but this versatile homemade Thandai masala powder mix can be used to make many recipes.

You can obviously add it to a glass of milk with sugar and enjoy this drink chilled.

You can use it to make Indian desserts such as kheer, rabdi, kulfi, yogurt, etc.

Not only Indian desserts, but you can make fusion desserts by adding this Thandai drink mix in cakes, ice cream, cheesecake, frozen yogurts, cupcakes, tarts, etc.

Instead of dairy milk, you can use almond milk or any other vegan milk to make yourself a vegan thandai.

Storage Suggestions

Store the dry powder in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 4 to 6 months. Make sure you put on the lid tightly, after using the powder.

Also, make sure your spoon is dry while putting it inside the jar to take out the powder.

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