For someone who loves colors, it’s quite odd to not enjoy the festival of colors Holi! As a kid, I used to hide in my Mom’s kitchen pantry almost the entire day, terrified of those multicolor faces. Some years, Holi used to fall right on my birthday, making it double difficult for me. The fear lasted for a very long time. The very first time I stepped out to play Holi was in my 20s. It was ok. I was not as thrilled as others. Somehow, it never became my favorite festival. Although that never stopped me from celebrating the day with sweets and snacks!
Thandai is milk-based summer cooler that is infused with nuts and spices. Served chilled, it’s almost a mandatory treat during Holi festival. The spice mix is pretty easy to make at home. It’s a blend of nuts like almond, pistachio and cashew along several spices like fennel seeds, black peppercorn and poppy seeds. When combined together, the flavor is robust! I love the niftiness of this spice mixture. It can be used in several dessert preparations to boost the taste and aroma.
This Holi, instead of going for the chilled drink, I went for chilled custard. Creamy, luscious and a perfect party treat!
Hope you all had an exciting and super colorful Holi.
Thandai Custard
Ingredients
for thandai powder
- ¼ cup whole almonds
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- 6 green cardamoms
- ½ tablespoon peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons melon seeds
for the custard
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup sugar
- 2½ tablespoons thandai powder
Instructions
to make the thandai powder
- Grind all the ingredients to a fine dust.
to make the custard
- Pour heavy cream in a saucepan along with sugar and thandai powder. Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. Allow it to simmer for about 5 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk egg until it’s smooth.
- Ladle a little bit of the hot cream slowly to whisked egg while whisking simultaneously. Pour the egg yolk mixture back to the hot cream and give it a mix. Cook the mixture on a medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until the custard looks thick and coats the back of your spoon.
- Preheat the oven to 150C/300 F.
- Pour the mixture in a baking pan and bake it for about 30 minutes or until it’s just set.
- Bring it to room temperature and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. However, if you want to serve it warm, you can do that too.
Notes
I didn’t strain the custard before baking but if you want to avoid any grains present in the spice mix, strain it before baking.
Comments are closed.
dixya
March 24, 2016 at 10:19 AMim not a holi person either..i have never liked the idea of throwing color and getting drenched..but sweets are always welcome 🙂
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
March 24, 2016 at 2:18 PMWhat a delicious custard, the flavors sound wonderful!
Sarvani
March 25, 2016 at 1:27 AMHoli does not excite me either..I might play with water but not the coloured powders!! I am intrigued by the addition of thandai in the custard…
Our Food Stories
March 25, 2016 at 3:27 AMohh this looks so delicious!! and wonderful photos <3
Mindy
March 25, 2016 at 5:25 AMHi Kankana,
Lovely stories and pictures!! The recipe sounds wonderful… what is the sugar amount?
Kankana Saxena
March 30, 2016 at 12:33 AMThanks Mindy 🙂 I didn’t realize the sugar amount was missing. It’s 1 cup!
Sheetal
March 25, 2016 at 5:37 AMWhat a great idea to to a thandia custard
Cygnet Kitchen
March 28, 2016 at 6:01 AMI just love baked custard, your spiced version looks so delicious Kankana! x
[email protected]
March 28, 2016 at 8:18 AMI have not been able to visit my favorite sites for a while now and I see that O have mussed some gorgeous recipes from you! Going through them all now 🙂 And before I forget, this is a genius fusion!
Janani Rakesh Kumar
April 18, 2016 at 1:16 PMLovely stories and awesome pictures kankana!