Malabi with Thandai Masala | Milk Pudding

I don’t play Holi but I like to soak in the festive mood by making something that is synonymous with Holi. Thandai is a mixture of nuts, seeds, and spices, and also a refreshing milk shake-like drink, made during the Holi festival. While mixing the thandai powder with milk is one of the more popular ways of having it, you could use it in a number of ways. In fact, you could use it to flavor any dessert of your choice. For instance, I am using the thandai mixture to add the flavor to this rice flour pudding, Malabi. I hope you will enjoy the video for this recipe on my YouTube channel.

Malabi, also called Mahalabiais or Muhallebi a deliciously smooth and creamy dessert from the Middle East. It is very similar to Phirni yet has a subtle difference to it. In Phirni, rice grains will need to be air-dried after being soaked in water and ground to coarse texture, which is then mixed with milk. It is soft and creamy but still a firm rice pudding, whereas Malabi is a mix between a velvety custard and a rice pudding.

Malabi is made by cooking milk and rice flour.  Most of the Malabi recipes you’ll find are made with the cornstarch. They both give different yet distinctive and delicious tastes! The rice flour version is a little grainier but better taste in my opinion than its smoother counterpart (corn flour version). It’s a light and refreshing dessert without being too sweet or overpowering. It is typically flavored with cardamom, rose water or orange blossom water, but you can flavor it with anything you desire. Adding thandai masala mix makes the flavor a bit different but in a good way.

So before making Malabi, you need to make Thandai Masala. It is quite simple to make at home. The traditional method of making Thandai, the classic drink is by soaking the the nuts and spices in milk or water overnight and then grinding using a mortal and pestle or a wet grinder to a fine paste. This paste is then mixed with more milk and sugar to make the drink. But, what I really love about the making the dry masala mixture, though, is that it can be used not just to make beverages, but also in sweets. I like to prepare a decent batch of thandai masala and store it airtight in the fridge to use it in summers. The melon seeds and white poppy seeds needed for this recipe can be challenging to find in many Canadian supermarkets, but can be ordered online. I have not tried but I am pretty sure they can be swapped with more cashews or hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds if needed.

This dessert tastes best when served chilled and is also convenient for dinner parties as it doesn’t require any last-minute preparations.

Bringing this lovely dessert to Angie’s Linky party @ Fiesta Friday.