Thandai

Holi morning in Banaras. The thandai shops have been grinding for days, and by nine there are brass tumblers everywhere and everyone already has colour on their face. It is also a plain summer drink in North Indian homes, made in a big jug and left in the fridge overnight. The name just means the thing that cools you down. You get the fennel first, then the cardamom, and then the black pepper arrives at the back of the throat a second later.

The sweetener matters more than people expect. Organic Dhaga Mishri dissolves clean into the milk and sweetens gently, so the saunf, the cardamom and that pepper all stay in front where they belong. White sugar flattens the lot into one note. Mishri is what the old thandai shops have always used, grown slowly on cotton threads, and it is worth crushing it fresh rather than buying it powdered.

The one thing that decides thandai is the grinding. Poppy seeds and almond skins go gritty if you hurry, and gritty thandai is spoiled thandai. Soak everything for a full two hours, grind in short twenty-second bursts with a little milk, scraping down between each, and strain the finished milk twice through a fine muslin cloth.

How to make it

1. Put the almonds, cashews, pistachios, magaz, khus khus, saunf, peppercorns, cardamom seeds and rose petals in a bowl. Pour the warm water over, cover and soak for 2 hours. Do not cut this short, this is what stops the thandai turning gritty.
2. Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy pan, then lower the flame and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring so it does not catch at the base. Switch off and let it cool to warm.
3. Rub the saffron strands between your fingers into a small bowl and pour 2 tbsp of the warm milk over them. Leave them to bloom while you grind.
4. Tip the soaked mixture with its soaking water into a mixie. Add the crushed mishri and 3 tbsp of the milk. Grind in short bursts of 20 seconds, scraping down between each, for about 3 minutes in all, till you have a completely smooth pale paste with no grit left between your fingers.
5. Stir the paste into the warm milk, a little at a time so it blends without lumps. Add the saffron milk. Keep it aside for 45 minutes to an hour so the flavours go into the milk properly.
6. Strain the milk through a fine sieve lined with a clean muslin cloth. Gather the cloth and squeeze the leftover solids hard, all the flavour is in there. Strain a second time for a really smooth thandai.
7. Taste it now and adjust. Add more crushed mishri if you want it sweeter, and stir in the rose water at this stage, off the heat, so its smell stays fresh.
8. Chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight, which is better. Serve cold in tall glasses or brass tumblers with a little ice, topped with slivered pistachios and a few rose petals.

Tips

• Storage: thandai keeps 2 days in the fridge in a covered jug. Shake or stir it before pouring, the paste settles at the bottom.
• Make ahead for Holi: grind the paste alone and store it in an airtight jar in the fridge for a week, or freeze it in an ice tray for a month. Then just whisk 2 tbsp of paste into a glass of cold milk whenever you want one.
• Blanch and peel the almonds if you want a paler, silkier thandai. Leave the skins on and it is a shade darker with a fuller taste. Both are common.
• Do not skip the black pepper because it sounds odd. That gentle warmth at the back of the throat is the whole character of thandai.
• Crush the dhaga mishri coarsely before grinding. Whole crystals take a long time to break down and can leave the paste grainy.