Name: Thandai Shortbread Cookies
Yield: Makes about 30
Ingredients: ½ star anise pod; 1 ½" cinnamon stick; 5 green cardamom pods; 2 whole cloves; 1 Tbsp. dried rose petals; 1½ tsp. fennel seeds; ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg; ⅛ tsp. black peppercorns; ⅛ tsp. saffron threads; 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. raw almonds; 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds; 1 Tbsp. raw cashews; 1 Tbsp. raw pistachios, preferably Persian or Sicilian; 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature; ½ cup (100 g) sugar; 1½ tsp. vanilla extract; 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour; ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt; 1 cup (170 g) high-quality white chocolate chips; 1 tsp. refined coconut oil; ¼ cup (30 g) raw pistachios, preferably Persian or Sicilian, chopped; 1 Tbsp. dried rose petals, crushed; A spice mill; a plain or fluted 2"-diameter cookie cutter

Thandai Shortbread Cookies easy cookie recipe

Photograph by Emma Fishman. Food styling by Pearl Jones.

Think of thandai—a popular drink at Holi celebrations in northern India—as a lightly floral spiced milk punch. In this recipe from her book Mumbai Modern, author Amisha Dodhia Gurbani mixes some of the rosy, nutty masala used for thandai into tender-crisp butter cookies, where its flavor blooms in the heat of the oven. Use leftover thandai masala to flavor hot chocolate, eggnog, or apple pie, or to sprinkle over your morning oatmeal or yogurt.