Happy Holi everyone!
This is my second recipe for this Holi and once again its a flavour I only tasted this week. ( the first being gulkand that went into the buttercream that paired with the paan cupcakes ). And its Thandai !
So thandai is a milk based north indian drink that is made with different nuts , seeds and spices. Its absolutely refreshing and hence the name (thandai = cooling) and a glass of chilled thandai is a perfect way to wash down all the gujiyas and kachoris on Holi post a good colour war !
What did I do with the thandai? Made a thandai pannacotta ( easy peasy ) and poured it into a Marie biscuit base ( just as easy peasy). Chill it for a couple of hours and you have a delicious dessert for Holi. Or any other festival. Or any other day that you can happen to have thandai masala lying around.
You easily get Thandai powder or syrup . Just need to mix it into milk. Its easy enough to make your own too – a google search will take you to umpteen recipes that are very similar if not identical to each other.
The tart case or shell is made of crushed digestive biscuits and melted butter (with some cardamom powder to match the filling ) and literally comes together in minutes. The pannacotta itself is basically cream flavoured with the thandai powder ( or syrup ) and then set with gelatin (or agar agar if you prefer). It really is that simple.
You can even skip the tart case all together and just pour the pannacotta mixture into moulds or glasses or those khullads. That would be super cool !
Thandai pannacotta tart
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 cups digestive biscuit crumbs from about 40 biscuits
- 170 grams or 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder optional
For the thandai pannacotta
- 480 ml or 2 cups cream i used amul 20 % fat cream
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup thandai syrup or 1/4 cup thandai powder
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoon gelatin
- 1 tablespoon edible dried rose petals optional
Instructions
To make the biscuit crust
- Crush or grind the biscuits to a powder.
- Mix in the salt and cardamom powder
- Melt the butter and add to the mixture
- Mix well until a ball formed of the mixture holds well.
- Press well and uniformly into the base and sides of 9 inch tart pan (preferably loose bottomed)
- Run a knife along the top edge of the pan to remove excess.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
To make the thandai pannacotta
- Mix the cream and thandai syrup ( or powder) well and let stand for atleast half hour.
- Sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes ( blooming the gelatin)
- Heat the cream in a thick bottomed saucepan (while stirring often) until it just bubbles around the edges.
- Take off heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin.
- Heat again for few minutes while stirring. This is to dissolve the gelatin. Do not let the mixture boil though.
- Take off heat and strain.
- Pour into the chilled tart case. Sprinkle dried rose petals on top if using.
- Refrigerate for atleast 3 hours and upto overnight.
- Remove from tart pan and serve cold !
Notes
This thandai pannacotta tart is just as vibrant in appearance and taste as any Holi dessert should be ! The cream is sweet with a hint of spice , and the crust is buttery . Simply delicious ! Sweet , spice and everything nice!
