Almond is one of the most nutritious and healthy dry fruits. It has high concentration of vitamin E and has low cholesterol and saturated fat. Fresh raw almond milk is yummy and good for health. The almond milk that you purchase from market has more water and less milk. Hence, it is definitely a better option to make almond milk at home to ensure a superior quality. You can make the milk at a much cheaper price than which it is available in market. If you are unaware of the process to make this milk here is a recipe that you can follow to make it fast, economical and safe to consume. Read on.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time Required: 15 minutes
Resources Required:
- Half kilogram of raw almond which are out of shell
- A blender
- A refrigerator jug of 2 liter capacity
- A big size bowl
- A cheese cloth
- A muslin cloth
- Salt or sweetener according to taste
Instructions:
1. Soaking almonds
First unshell about half Kg of almonds to make 2 liters of creamy almond milk. Soak this almonds keeping the ratio of almond and water 1:3. There is more room for almonds to swell properly if you keep it in a big pot and put enough water. Sufficient water ensures the milk to be efficiently rich in cream. The time required for soaking is about 8 hours.
2. Blending
Once the almonds are properly soaked, blend it properly making a puree. The blended puree will be thick and will have a froth on the top. Now, it is ready for primary straining.
3. Primary straining
Take a cheese cloth and spread it over a big-sized bowl. Pour the puree in the cheese cloth with help of a ladle. Squeeze the moisture out of the puree as much as possible. Remember, the more you squeeze the better cream you obtain. You should not add any more water at this point of time.
4. Secondary straining
The milk obtained after first straining is supposed to go through secondary straining to get silky milk. You spread a muslin cloth over the refrigerator jug and pour the primary milk into it for the secondary straining. While filtering the milk, you should stir it continuously to speed up the process.
5. Dilution
If the milk is too thick after the secondary straining, you can add some more water into the refrigerator jug to dilute it. If the milk is too thick it can be balanced by adding water but if it becomes thin you cannot revert the process. Hence, try to maintain the water concentration during blending and straining.
6. Refrigeration
Allow the milk in the jug to refrigerate for 24 hours in order to enjoy the best taste. Add taste according to your choice. If you are adding salt or sweetener it is advisable to add pinch by pinch. Stir and taste after every pinch you add to prevent the taste from spoiling. This will ensure perfection to the milk’s taste.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What to do if a lot of almond solid is left after straining?
It happens if you soak almonds for short period or put lots of water while blending. You can re-blend the leftover almond solid with a little water at maximum and extract some more milk from it. Now, what is left is the almond meal.
Quick Tips:
- The residue left after the primary straining can be eaten as almond meal. The residue left after the secondary straining can be used as almond flour after drying.
- Mesh bag can be used for primary straining instead of cheese cloth. Wire mesh coffee cone can be used instead of muslin bag for second straining.
Things To Watch Out For:
Thick milk is always better and delicious, so avoid adding too much water while dilution.
