Oats and Cashew Milk
Ingredients:
Cashews - 1/2 cup
Rolled Oats - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 3 TBSP
Sweetener like maple syrup or agave nectar - optional
Water - 4 cups plus to soak the cashews
Method:
Soak cashews in 1 1/2 cups of water overnight or for about 6 hours. Drain. Set aside. In a blender or a food processor, take 1/2 cup of rolled oats. Process to make fine powder. Add cashews to it, raisins if using and slowly add 1/2 cup water at a time and process till smooth. If using food processor, don’t use all the water. It will make a mess. When it is smooth, transfer it to a container and add the remaining water. Let it sit for about an hour. Strain through a fine mesh strainer or through a cheese cloth if you don’t want the bits of cashews and oats. Refrigerate and use within 4 - 5 days. This milk will settle, so stir before using.
Sweetened Almond Milk
Ingredients:
Raw Whole almonds - 1 1/2 cups (you could use already blanched almonds to skip the blanching process)
Milk - 8 cups
Water - 4 cups plus more for blanching process
Cardamom - 10 - 12
Sugar - 3/4 cup - 1 cup as per taste
Saffron strands - few
Method:
In a skillet, lightly toast the almonds. After they are toasted, add enough water to cover the almonds to the same skillet. Bring it to a boil. Let the water boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and using a slotted spoon, remove the almonds and put them in a bowl of cold water. After about 5 minutes, you should be able to peel the skin away very easily. Remove the skin and take all the almonds in a blender. Add the cardamom pods to that and blend adding little by little water (part of the 4 cups) to a smooth paste.
In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the milk. When it has heated up, add the ground almond paste, saffron strands and stir. Add the remaining water from the 4 cups and stir frequently to prevent burning. When it starts boiling, add sugar and mix. Let it come to a full boil with lot of foam on the top. Turn off the heat. Serve hot, warm or chill in the refrigerator and serve.
via versatilekitchen
