Ingredients :

For Masala Milk :

• 4 cups whole full fat milk
• 4 tbsp sugar adjust to taste
• Pinch saffron strands
• 2-3 tbsp Masala milk powder recipe included
• Sliced almonds and pistachios for serving and garnishing, optional

For Milk Masala Powder (makes 1 cup powder)

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1/4cup pistachios
• 2 tsp cardamom powder or 8-10 pods of cardamom
• few saffron strands

Instructions:

To make masala milk powder

1. Start by dry roasting the whole nuts. Heat a pan on medium-low heat and add the dry fruits to it. Keep stirring for 2 mins, make sure they don’t turn brown. Alternately for roasting, you can also microwave the nuts for 1 min.

2. Allow cooling completely. They will crisp up as they cool.

3. Add the roasted nuts to a grinder or blender and grind to a coarse powder. I use my coffee grinder.

4. Mix in the saffron and cardamom powder. Mix well and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Use as needed.

Masala doodh :

1. In a thick bottom pan, bring milk to boil stirring occasionally to avoid it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

2. Take a tablespoon or two of this warm milk into a small bowl and soak some saffron in it.

3. Add 2 tablespoon of the masala milk powder to this boiled milk and mix well until combined.

4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 mins stirring intermittently. Keep scraping the sides and adding it back to the milk.

5. Add the soaked saffron with milk, sugar and mix again until sugar is dissolved.

6. Simmer for another 4-5 mins stirring intermittently. Keep scraping the sides and adding it back to the milk. This helps thicken (reduce) the milk and tastes amazing.

7. Masala milk is ready! Garnish with some sliced almonds or pistachios and serve warm or allow to cool and refrigerate and serve chilled.

Notes :

• Use full-fat milk for that rich, thick, and creamy consistency. Substitute with almond milk to make it vegan. 
• Roast the dry fruits, which makes them crunchy and grinding easier.
• For variation, add rose petals while boiling milk or a drop of rose essence.
• Make turmeric masala milk (Haldi wala doodh) by adding half to 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder to the masala milk powder. 
• Add a tablespoon or two of milk powder to the homemade masala to make the milk more creamy. Completely optional.
• Substitute white sugar with coconut sugar or honey or jaggery powder. Add all these alternatives at the end once the milk is boiled.