Masala Mylk Shake

“Masala” milk is a sweetened flavored milk, loaded with ground spices, roasted nuts and saffron. (“Masala” - a mixture of ground spices in powder or paste form.) This is my take on the traditional version - in the form of a vegan milkshake. I love the aroma and taste of the freshly ground spices and nuts and often blend the powdered mix with dairy free vanilla ice cream for a quick dessert. A perfect, easy dessert for Holi!

Ingredients for the masala powder

1/2 cup unsalted cashews

1/2 cup unsalted almonds

1/4 cup unsalted pistachios

1 tbsp ground cardamom

1 tsp saffron

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground mace

1/2 cup sugar

Procedure for the masala powder

In a skillet, dry roast the cashews, almonds and pistachios for 7-10 minutes on medium heat, stirring continuously

Turn off heat and set them aside to cool. About 10 minutes

In a spice grinder, grind the nuts, saffron and sugar and transfer to an airtight glass jar

Add the ground cardamom, nutmeg and mace to the glass jar and shake well to mix them together thoroughly.

For the milkshake

2 scoops of dairy free vanilla ice cream (soy, almond or oat/preferably not coconut milk based)

3/4 cup dairy free unsweetened mylk

Roasted, crushed unsalted pistachios, for garnish, as needed

Pinch of saffron strands, for garnish

3 tbsp of the ground masala (recipe above)

1 scoop of vanilla dairy free ice cream, for serving

In a blender, mix together the ice cream, mylk, ground masala, until creamy. Add more dairy free ice cream & ground masala mix, if you like.

Transfer to a tall serving glass, top with dairy free vanilla ice cream, crushed pistachios and saffron strands

-You may store the powder in the refrigerator packed in the airtight jar and use as required with plain dairy free milk, hot or cold. Just add few spoons of the mix to your milk, stir well to combine and enjoy!