‘Wholly’ Thandai Mousse- No sugar added, vegan, gluten free.
With spring comes Holi, the festival of colors, which is celebrated to forgive ,forget and to rejoice in unlimited hues. Thandai which is synonymous with Holi festival, is a festive drink made by adding slightly spiced nut mixture, traditionally to milk, along with sugar.
My quest was to find a much healthier, plant based, ‘wholly’ dessert to enjoy the flavors of Thandai. The key changes, I needed to make to the traditional thandai drink were to find wholesome plant based alternative for dairy, and a delicious cleaner way to sweeten the dessert.
The nature’s best sweetener is fruit, so it was easy to pick mango which happens to be most loved fruit in my home. Then to skip dairy, be it milk or cream or condensed milk etc used in traditional desserts, I used the power combo of tofu and soy milk. The addition of silken tofu gives the texture and body of the mousse. With tofu we make it a protein rich, low fat dessert while avoiding cholesterol. Plus the good dose of phytoestrogens which are beneficial come from soy products. (If you are allergic to soy products, coconut cream will be a good alternative, but note that it is high in saturated fat.)Then add in the classic Thandai flavors, along with aroma of rose water, just a smidge of sliced nuts for the crunch and complete the easy , super healthy Thandai mousse. This is ‘wholly’ nutritious and notably deliciouly addictive. Cool it down, and just binge on it once your festivities are on full swing.
Chic, complete, contemporary with still conventional roots– this is how I would describe this mousse, which takes under 20 min to make and there is no cooking involved. If you have not planned your dessert for this Holi, get the ingredients listed down and let your guests have a Happy , but more importantly Healthy Holi indulgence.
‘Wholly’ Thandai Mousse- No sugar added, vegan, gluten free
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
Thandai powder
- 12 raw almonds
- 10 raw cashews
- 8-10 raw pistachios
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp watermelon seeds – can use pumpkin seeds instead
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- 3 whole cardamom
- 4 whole peppercorns
- 8 saffron strands
The mousse
- 2 cups fresh mango- medium ripe, the sweeter the better See notes
- 1 1/2 cup Firm silken tofu *silken tofu is shelf stable, usually in asian ingredients aisle in grocery stores. Use the package once open.
- 2 Tbsp soy milk to help blend the mango
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract optional
- 1 tsp rose water optional
- 2 Tbsp Thandai powder made from above *use heaped spoons for extra flavor
- 3 Tbsp finely sliced almonds or any nuts of your choice to mix in
Garnish
- dry rose petals
- Almond, pistachios
Instructions
Making the Thandai powder
- Add all the Thandai powder ingredients to blender jar. Pulse into a coarse mixture, just until the there are no pieces of nuts that you can feel. Set this aside. You should have about 6 Tbsp of Thandai powder made with above measurements.
Thandai Mousse
- Add the mango pieces, and soy milk to a blender jar. Blitz into a smooth paste.
- Then add silken tofu to the blender. Blend into a nice smooth paste.
- Add vanilla extract, rose water, 2 Tbsp thandai powder made to the blender jar and pulse for 10 sec.
- Take the mousse into a bowl. Mix in the sliced almond or nuts of your choice. Now pour the mixture into serving dishes, which should go into the fridge for two hours atleast. If running out of time, use the freezer for about an hour until the mousse is set.
- Garnish with more almonds or pistachios, rose petals. Add coconut whipped cream on top if desired. Enjoy the no sugar added, high protein nutty Thandai Mousse.