Dry Fruit Milkshake Powder for Teens: What One Glass Gives

Verdict: a homemade dry fruit milkshake powder makes a good, filling glass for a teenager, but the milk does most of the work: of roughly 11 to 12 g protein per glass, about 8 g comes from the milk. It isn’t a growth powder, and it doesn’t need much sugar.

Many parents make a jar of dry fruit powder once their child hits the growth-spurt years, because the teenager is suddenly always hungry and a glass of milk with something in it feels like a sensible after-school fix. It is sensible, and a glass of milk with a spoon of ground nuts after school is a far better habit than a packet of chips and a cold drink, but it isn’t magic, whatever the WhatsApp forward about height and exam marks says. This article, in our Desi Remedies series, decodes one glass, sets out the sugar and allergy questions and covers younger siblings who’ll want some too. For the baby and toddler version of a nut powder, see our dry fruit powder for kids guide.

Who this is for, by age

• Under 1: no. Cow’s milk isn’t the main drink before 1, and no added sugar goes into a baby’s food.
• 1 to 3 years: a teaspoon of powder stirred into their usual milk or porridge, with no sugar, is plenty.
• 3 to 5 years: 1 to 2 teaspoons in a small cup of milk. Powder is fine; whole or chopped nuts are a choking risk under 5.
• 6 to 12: 1 tablespoon in a glass of milk.
• Teenagers: the full 2 tbsp glass below.

What one glass gives

A 16 g scoop is one fifteenth of the batch, which works out at about 6.7 g badam, 3.3 g kaju, 3.3 g pista, 2 g makhana and 0.7 g elaichi, so the spoon is really a small pinch of each nut rather than the handful people picture.

The working. Simple. Milk at about 3.3 g protein and 120 mg calcium per 100 ml gives the first row. Badam is roughly 21 g protein per 100 g, kaju about 18 g, pista about 20 g and makhana about 9 g. So 6.7 g badam adds 1.4 g protein, kaju and pista 0.6 to 0.7 g each, and makhana about 0.2 g. The calcium in the glass, about a quarter to a third of a teenager’s daily need, is nearly all from milk. All values are approximate food-table estimates.

Sugar: how much is sensible

Two level teaspoons is 8 g of added sugar. The WHO advice for children and adults is to keep added sugar under 10% of daily energy and ideally under 5%, which for most teenagers is roughly 25 to 50 g a day. One glass with 2 tsp fits easily. The trouble is the extras: a heaped teaspoon is nearer 6 g, shop-bought milkshake syrups add much more, and a teenager having a glass after school and another at night with a cold drink in between can run past the ideal line before dinner. Try 1 tsp. Or two dates. The nuts and elaichi already taste sweet enough for many kids after a week or two.

What each ingredient is doing

• Badam: the base. Vitamin E, some magnesium and a creamy taste.
• Kaju: body and sweetness. Some zinc and magnesium.
• Pista: colour and flavour, a little potassium.
• Makhana: lightness and bulk, mostly starch. It thickens the shake.
• Elaichi: aroma only. 10 g in a 240 g batch is strong. Try 5 g.

What it can’t do

No powder makes a child taller. None. Height is set mainly by genes, then by enough total food, protein, sleep and good health through childhood. A glass of milk with nuts is one decent part of that, alongside meals with daal, eggs, meat or paneer, vegetables and roti or rice. It doesn’t sharpen memory for exams either, and it isn’t a replacement for a missed meal every day. If a teenager is losing weight, not growing, very tired or very pale, see a doctor rather than adding more powder.

Making the powder

1. Dry-roast each nut separately on low heat: 100 g badam for 5 to 6 minutes, 50 g kaju for 3 to 4, 50 g pista for 2.
2. Roast 30 g makhana for 8 to 10 minutes until it snaps cleanly.
3. Cool everything fully for 30 minutes. Warm nuts turn to paste.
4. Grind makhana and 10 g elaichi first, then add the nuts and pulse in short bursts to a fine powder.
5. Store in a dry, airtight glass jar in the fridge; use a dry spoon.
6. Smell it every few days. Nutty and sweet is right; stale, bitter or paint-like means it’s rancid and goes in the bin.
7. For a glass: blend or whisk 2 tbsp into 250 ml cold or warm milk with up to 2 tsp sugar.

What if you change the amounts?

• More badam, less kaju: a little more vitamin E. Fine.
• More makhana: lighter and cheaper, a little less fat and protein per spoon.
• Add 20 g roasted chana or peanuts: an optional upgrade for more protein per spoon at a lower price, if there’s no peanut allergy.
• Add a banana: natural sweetness and some potassium; drop the sugar.
• Three spoons instead of two: barely 1.5 g more protein. Skip it.
• More sugar or syrup: no gain at all.

Cheaper swaps that give as much

A plain glass of milk and a boiled egg give more protein than the shake, for less money, and a katori of daal with rice or a roti with an omelette at lunch does more for a growing teenager than any glass made from a jar, however good the jar looks on the shelf. A glass of lassi with a banana is just as filling. And the powder costs far less than a branded “growth” drink. Less sugar, too. Our homemade protein powder uses cheaper chana and peanuts if protein per rupee is the goal.

Dry fruit milkshake questions