The craziest festival, Holi, is just a day away – oh, let’s not forget, hello, long weekend! After a long week of work and daily life struggles, we’ll all finally get to lose ourselves to carefree revelry and celebrate. Of course, splashes of colour holds significance in this high-spirited occasion, but what makes it even interesting are the well-meaning pranks we play on friends and family, good food, and, without a doubt, the Holi special … THANDAI! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you may well be aware that the festival of colours is incomplete without the traditional milk-based, spiced cold drink, thandai (also known as sardai). After sharing with you the perfect songs for you to dance to this Holi, we’re here with some special (read boozy) thandai recipes to make the party more exciting. From the classic bhang, to a version spiked with gin, we bring to you a bunch of delicious alcohol-laced thandai recipes. So, scroll on and quickly zero down on the kind of thandai you want to serve this festive season.
The Classic Bhang Thandai
Now this one’s just the classic thandai containing almonds, pistachios, peppercorns, aniseed, cardamom, melon seeds, dry rose petals, poppy seeds, fennel seeds and saffron. However, to give it an interesting twist, you can put a not-too-generous portion of bhang seed powder to the final preparation, strain it, and serve cold. But only if bhang is legal in the state you live in.
Gin Thandai
So, while the base remains the same as above, you need to substitute the bhang leaves with the same amount of floral gin, mentioned in the recipe, and you are good to go. The alcohol accentuates the nutty and spicy flavours of the thandai. Oh, and don’t forget a pinch of nutmeg powder too.
Find the recipe here.
Vodka Thandai
Now, this is for all the lazy souls, like us. All this recipe requires is to blend together some milk, sugar, thandai syrup, vodka and loads of ice. Garnish it with almond flakes; the dry fruits will lend a different texture to the beverage.
Baileys Thandai
Yum! Just the thought of mixing this milk-based beverage with the cream-based liqueur is pleasing to the heart, don’t you agree? So, think no more, give thandai an Irish twist. Rest assured, this will be the star of your Holi celebration!
