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Thandai is a spiced almond milk served during the festival of Holi. Creamy and refreshing, it is vegan and gluten free.
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Hope you all had a colorful and safe Holi. More about Holi and sweets and savories made during the festival on the previous post.
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Thandai is a drink served during the festival. The poppy seeds and other spices in the drink cause a cooling/freshening effect after drinking it. The onset of Spring in North India usually means a good amount of heat. So this is the drink to help with the changing weather!
Thandai is usually made with full fat milk and ground almonds. This is a quick and more delicious version of the Thandai. No straining or cooking needed! Make some spice, add ground cashew and some chilled Almond Milk!
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I also made some Thandai Lassi! Lassi is usually made by blending yogurt with water until frothy, and made sweet or savory. This Lassi is made with Coconut Milk Yogurt and the Thandai spices. Use spices and sweet to preference.
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Thandai (Spiced Almond Milk) and Thandai Lassi (Yogurt Drink). vegan glutenfree
a spiced almond milk served during the festival of Holi. Creamy and refreshing, it is vegan and gluten free.
Ingredients Â
Ground spice mix
- 1/8 tsp cardamom powder or 1 green cardamom
- 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
- 1/8 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 black peppercorns
- 1/4 tsp saffron
- a few dry watermelon seeds
Dry grind
- 1/4 cup raw cashews as fine as possible.
Thandai:
- 1/2 cup Almond milk
- 1 cup more almond milk
- 1.5-2 Tablespoons raw sugar
- Garnish with chopped pistachios and a few saffron strands
Lassi:
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2-3/4 cup of non dairy yogurt
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1.5 Tablespoons raw sugar
InstructionsÂ
Thandai:
- In a blender, add the ground cashew and spice mix, add 1/2 cup Almond milk and blend well until smooth.
- Add about 1 cup more almond milk and raw sugar as needed (1.5-2 Tablespoons raw sugar or maple or dates). Blend and chill for at least an hour, to let the spices infuse in the drink.
- Give it a mix before serving. Garnish with chopped pistachios and a few saffron strands.
- If you have rose water or pistachio essence, add some to taste.
Lassi:
- In a blender, add the ground cashew and spice mix, add 1/2 cup almond milk. Blend well until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour so the spices can infuse the almond milk.
- To the chilled spice and almond milk mix, Add 1/2-3/4 cup of non dairy yogurt and 1/2 cup of water(less or more to preference for lassi consistency), 1.5 Tablespoons raw sugar or to taste, and blend. Add more or less water for needed consistency of Lassi. Serve immediately!
Notes
For a larger batch of the spice mix. Dry grind and keep in airtight container, refrigerated for a few days. 1/2 tsp cardamom powder or 2-3 green cardamom(elaichi) 2 tsp poppy seeds (khus khus) 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf) 5-6 black peppercorns( kali mirch) 3/4 tsp saffron (kesar) 1 teaspoon watermelon seeds(magaj)
Nutritional values based on one serving of Thandai
Nutrition
Calories: 170kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 246mg, Potassium: 106mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 10g, Calcium: 241mg, Iron: 1.2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this recipe? Rate and comment below!
first time seeing vegan recipes for thandai and thandai lassi…. just loved it. i must try some vegan recipes now…. but i don’t get any vegan ingredients here. and i am very lazy to make them at home.
Dassana, I try a few new packaged things here since they are so easily available and then eventually start making everything at home to avoid all the added ingredients.
You probably get coconut milk easily right.. It works like regular milk for yogurt and other needs! We sometimes dilute it with almond milk. Any nut milk is easier in india with all the powerful blender! Just soak and blend!
alright. i sometimes make coconut milk at home. coconut milk is easy and so is any nut milk. and for the vegan yogurt, i will check the link you gave on your fb page.
one question richa. i was vegan for almost a year. at this time i would have soy milk and i just did not like the indian brands and especially the taste. at this time i did not know about the nuts milk.
is something wrong with the soy beans?… i don’t see you adding soy milk in any of your vegan drinks…. any issues with the soy milk that is sold outside especially in india?
Mainly because i dont like the taste. 🙂 there are lots of controversies with soy.. 98% soy in the US is genetically modified. Also excessive consumption of soy in any form other than naturally fermented is linked to certain health problems like thyroid and such. Though soy is also beneficial in some ways.
We already end up consuming soy in processed goods unknowingly(soy lecithin is used in pretty much everything to keep things like buttery spreads from separating etc).We eat fermented soy like tempeh, miso. I try to avoid the highly processed versions. like soy milk, soy based cheeses, and even tofu. Hope this helps.
thanks a lot for this info richa 🙂
this is the first vegan thandai i am seeing, looks awesome!
wow..lovely presentation and nice clicks..
Awww Richa, no bhaang? 😉 😉
Love the first pic!
Thanks Nisha.. haha.. i know hubbs would be so happy if i said bhang! i am sure he slipped in some of his scotch in the evening batch 😉
LOL =)
I would slip in some too; sadly my hubby doesn’t drink 😛
Both drinks look delicious! This is compelty new to me, but I love the idea of adding spices to a cool milk drink. My kids love almond milk and I look froward to suprising them with these drinks on a warm day.
Thanks Alea. The warm saffron and cool poppy make this into a rich, cool and filling drink! Let me know how you all like it.
Looks delicious and refreshing drink
I think I would chug that entire glass in one gulp, it looks/sounds so good! Maybe next year I will celebrate Holi, seeing that I missed it this year. I will bring some rainbow donuts to share 🙂
I bet you would.. though it is quite creamy to really chug in one go:)
Oh yes, get them donuts! and we will put the same colors on you and we all will be one big colorful camouflage!
Thanks Richa this recipe looks yummy!
I have always made thandai with all the masala just with regular milk.
Since we do use almonds in there I know almond milk would work great too will have to try for sure
Thanks Archena. The almond milk and cashews make it a nice and creamy mix,so dairy milk is not needed. Hope you like this version!
My husband would LOVE this drink, he always orders lassi when we eat Indian, but we have great problems getting the coconut products in the UK, I’ve never seen the yogurt. Do you need to add yogurt or could you use something else?
Thanks Vicky. There are 2 variations you can make.. the first one is just thandai with almond milk, the other lassi has yogurt. Lassi usually means yogurt drink. You can culture your own yogurt. I just add a little active culture to either thick cashew milk or coconut milk, and keep it in a warm place covered with cloth.
I might make coconut milk using dessicated coconut. I just meant, since you added the water, if you could make a comparable drink without the yogurt? Sorry it wasn’t clear! So thandai is probably the answer, thank you!
I obviously didn’t read it properly! Sorry!
no probs. the lassi has water to thin it a bit. hope you all like the thandai. use any non dairy milk.:)
I’ve never tried anything like this – sounds interesting! I bet that lassi tastes really good with the coconut yogurt!