Thandaai: Holi Hai!!

(Literally translated - The Chill or The Coolness)

रहिबे को घर को मकान होय अट्टादार, हाथ सिलबट्टा पे उछाट्टा दे चलत जाये

द्वार बंधी गैया होय,घर में लुगैया होय बेंकमें रुपैया होए हौसला खिलत जाये

There may not be a recipe for happiness, but here are the ingredients that make up a good life - a tall house, hands dancing on a grinding stone, a cow tied to your doorstep, a lot of money in the bank and a woman in the house. The dancing hands on the silbatta refer to the making of thandaai paste (a silbatta is a set of two stones used for wet grinding).

How times have changed. Food and seasons were once so intertwined that you 


could fill a food calendar that would not need repeating the next month.  Gur (jaggery/molasses) and Til(sesame) for January and Kaachraa/Tindsi(or Tinda) for the summer,  a specific menu for Sheetal Ashtmi and a unique one for the month of Mal. But now, with increasing use of refrigeration, transportation and genetic alteration, people cook with canned and refrigerated items.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the convenience of canned beans and frozen peas.  But I think that there was a harmony, a rhythm in the way people lived their life, making the most of every season by adapting and celebrating and this delicate art of living is slowly getting lost.   
Spring is around the corner - all grocery shops have started displaying their brightly coloured bottled cold drinks on the shelves. These drinks are aerated and lack any nutritional value. If they do contain fruit juices, often these are accompanied by preservatives too. The true cold drink of Rajasthan is Thandaai and with a little amount of effort, we can enjoy the taste of this fresh and nutritious cold drink that is incomparable in its flavour and sophistication.

Thandaai is a true cold drink in that it's believed to cool the body from the inside. In the old days making thandaai was a family activity, a celebration of sorts as the grinding was not done by your kitchen blender but carried out on the grinding stone by the men of the house. 

One drink that comes close to its concept is the Mexican/Spanish drink Horchata, made of almonds and some other nuts or grains.  This beverage traces its roots to the middle east and is known as the drink of Gods.  Perhaps this is truly the Spanish cousin of Thandaai. 

With Holi just around the corner make thandaai and offer it to your guests who knock on  your door!
                                                                                

Ingredients required for 4 glasses

Khuskhus (poppy seeds) 4 table spoons

Saunf (fennel seeds) 2 tablespoons

Almonds 20

Blackpepper one table spoon

Green cardamom 5

Dried rose petals half cup

Magaj (cantaloupe seeds dried)

Milk 1 glass

Sugar 6 table spoons

Saffron ( Soaked in water) few strands

Ice cubes for serving

In a grinder take all the ingredients except milk and sugar and grind to a powder using a dry grinding blade. This powder can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks and can be used at the time of making the paste.

Dry Thandaai Powder

Next this powder should undergo wet grinding. So add 1/4 cup of water and with the help of a wet grinding blade try to make a fine paste of it. This will take a few rounds of grinding. 



Thandaai Paste
पीसियो जीको घीसियो नै छौनियो जीको जौनियो

- मेहनत किसी और की और नाम किसी और का

Dissolve this paste in 3 glasses of water and strain it through a fine muslin cloth. Add milk and sugar to it. Finally add the saffron and Ice cubes.

As the name indicates Thandaai should be served ice cold.

Tips

• The amount of black pepper is according to taste. This one is for a mild drink.

• Thandaai is traditionally made very sweet but my recipe assumes calorie conscious readers and I suggest less sugar.