I’m looking at you spring! You’re so vibrant and warm. The way you cast your rays through my sheer gold curtains make me wanna jump out of bed in the morning!

The celebration of the Hindu festival Holi began yesterday and ends today which means we should all be celebrating love, colors, and spring from here forward! I admit that I just found out about Holi and think it’s such a beautiful celebration of life in the new season of spring. The lovely Rinku Bhattacharya whom I’ve met through the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance brought this holiday to my attention.

She’s a cookbook author of The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, Instant Indian: Classic Foods from Every Region of India made easy in the Instant Pot, and Spices & Seasons: Simple, Sustainable Indian Flavors. She’s also a blogger and an amazing chef and teacher celebrating all food especially from her Indian heritage. Here she shares a recipe from an event she hosted over the weekend that is enjoyed during Holi!

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

• 1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds

• 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

• 1 blade of mace

• 1/2 cup shelled blanched almonds (see note)

• 1/4 cup shelled pistachios

• 1/4 cup melon seeds (see note)

• 1 teaspoon saffron strands

• 1/2 cup honey

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 5 cups of whole milk

• 1 tablespoon rose water

• Rose Petals and Chopped Nuts to garnish

Instructions

1. Grind the peppercorns, fennel seeds, cardamom seeds and mace in a spice/coffee grinder until powdered.

2. Grind the almonds, pistachios, and melon seeds until powdered. Mix well together. If you wish you can make this mixture ahead of time and store and use as needed.

3. Add this powdered mixture to 1/4 cup of milk and blend until a smooth paste is formed.

4. Soak the saffron strands in 1/4 cup of the milk. If you wish, you can warm the milk slightly. This helps the color bloom quick, but not completely necessary.

5. In the meantime add the remaining milk to the blender and blend until smooth. If this is too much liquid you can add two glass blend until smooth.

6. Remove this mixture and add the saffron steeped milk and the additional milk in a large jug.

7. Pour into glasses or a serving jug and chill.

8. To serve, place a teaspoon of rose petals at the bottom of the glass. Add in a few ice cubed (if desired) and pour the than

9. Serve over ice garnished with rose petals and additional chopped nuts.

10. Enjoy !

Notes

The combination of nuts and melon seeds are a guideline. If you cannot find melon seeds, that is ok, you can increase the almonds or add in cashews. You can use all honey, or just sugar. This makes a large amount of the thandai, so for a smaller amount you can half the recipe.