Chef Vikas Khanna, the brand ambassador of Quaker Oats shares his secret recipe for Oats Thandai, while Maharaj Joshram Choudhary, the corporate chef of Khandani Rajdhani shares his heirloom recipe of the Gulab Kesari Thandai. Celebrated chef, chef Manish Mehrotra shares Almond and Basil Thandai.
Oats Thandai
Ingredients:
Quaker Oats - 1and 1/2 cups
Water - 3 cups
Cahsew nuts - 10-12
Almonds - 10-12
Black peppercorns - 25-30
Raisins - 10-12
Cardamom - 10-12
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Melon seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Saffron soaked milk - 1 pinch saffron in 1 tbsp milk
Rose water - 1/2 tsp
Method:
Heat a pan on medium flame. Dry roast the oats for 5 minutes to avoid rawness of the oats. Let the oats cool.
Take a blender, add dry the roasted oats, water as required, grind it, and keep aside.
Soak almonds, cashew nuts, peppercorns, raisins, cardamom, poppy seeds, fennel seeds and melon seeds in ½ cup of water for 5-6 hours.
Strain the water and grind the soaked ingredients in a blender to make a smooth paste.
Add the ground paste to the oats mixture and strain the mixture through a sieve.
Cook this oats thandai mixture in a saucepan for 5 minutes on a low flame.
Add sugar, saffron and rose water and mix till sugar is dissolved in it.
Cool down the thandai for a while and then refrigerate it.
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Gulab Kesari Thandai (Recipe for 1 portion of approx 250 ml)
Ingredients:
Thandai Masala Paste – 1 Tbsp
Boiled Chilled Full Fat Milk – 200 Ml
Sugar Powder – 2 Tbsp
Gulkand – 1 Tbsp
Mixed Chopped Nuts – 01 Tbsp
Rose Syrup – 4 Tbsp
Dry Rose Petals – 1 Tsp
Saffron – as required
Ingredients for the Thandai Masala Paste (Makes 10 portions of 250 ml each)
Peeled Almonds – ½ Cup
Cashew nut – ½ Cup
Black Pepper Corn – 25 to 30 Corns
Elaichi – 25 to 30 Pcs
Poppy Seeds (Khus Khus) – 02 Tbsp
Fennel Seeds – 2 Tbsp
Melon Seeds (Charmagaj) – 2 Tbsp
Saffron – 25 to 30 Strands
Dry Rose Petals – 2 Tbsp
Method to make Thandai Masala Paste:
Soak all the ingredients in water for a minimum of 4 hours.
Strain all the ingredients out from the water.
Grind the ingredients in a wet grinder to smooth paste.
Store in an air tight container.
Can be stored for 3 days in the refrigerator.
Method to make the Thandai:
Take chilled milk and add the Thandai Masala Paste, Sugar, Rose Syrup, and Gulkand and stir well to mix all the ingredients evenly.
Garnish with the chopped nuts and the dry rose petals. Serve chilled.
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Almond and Basil Thandai (Recipe for four, 200 ml each)
Ingredients
Soaked and peeled almonds 2 tbsp
Soaked melon seeds 2 tbsp
Soaked poppy seeds 1 tbsp
Almond slivers ½ cup
Sugar ¼ cup
A pinch of saffron strands
4 fresh holy basil leaves
Milk 2 cups
Green cardamom powder ½ tbsp
Black peppercorns 1/2 tsp
Soaked fennel seeds ¼ cup
Method
Make a smooth paste of fennel seeds, poppy seeds, and almonds.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, bring the milk and saffron strands to a boil.
Dissolve the sugar in the milk.
Grind the fresh holy basil leaves and black peppercorns to a paste and add it to the milk.
Add the almond, poppy seed and fennel seed paste along with cardamom powder and almond slivers to the milk and simmer it for 2-3 minutes.