Thadal is the definitive cooling drink of Sindh and one of the least-known specialties in the zone’s repertoire — almost completely absent from English-language food writing despite being made in Sindhi homes from Karachi to Leicester every summer. Seeds that the Ayurvedic tradition reads as cooling — melon seeds, white poppy seeds — are ground to a paste with almonds and fennel, dissolved in chilled water or milk, sweetened with sugar and perfumed with rose water and a crack of black pepper. The result is cooling in the literal Ayurvedic sense and cooling in the simple, practical sense: it is cold, it is faintly sweet and fragrant, and it is made specifically for the season when Sindhi summers turn the city into something requiring endurance. It is also Eid morning, handed out to visitors before anything else.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tbsp melon seeds (magaz, soaked 2 hours)
- 2 tbsp white poppy seeds (khus khus, soaked 2 hours)
- 12 blanched almonds (soaked 30 minutes)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1 litre chilled water or full-fat milk
- 6 tbsp sugar (or to taste)
- 1 tbsp rose water
- icecubes to serve
METHOD
- Drain the soaked melon seeds, poppy seeds and almonds. Combine in a blender with the fennel seeds, peppercorns and 200ml of the chilled water.
- Blend to a completely smooth paste, scraping down the sides. The paste should be fine and creamy with no graininess.
- Add the remaining water or milk and blend again to fully combine.
- Strain through a fine muslin cloth or two layers of fine mesh sieve, pressing to extract all the liquid. Discard the dry solids.
- Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the rose water and taste — it should be gently sweet, fragrant, and faintly cool from the fennel and pepper.
- Chill well. Serve over ice in glasses. Thadal keeps for 24 hours refrigerated; shake or stir before serving.
