Homemade Almond Milk

- Makes about 3-4 cups

There is nothing quite like homemade almond milk. My earliest memory of this drink is on the festival of colors “Holi”, where this milky liquid is churned together with a medley of poppy seeds (yes, you read it right :)), dried rose petals, fennel seeds and more aromatics. We would wait all year long to be able to enjoy a glass or two of chilled “Thandai” and the wait was well worth it. Although, packed almond milk is cheaply and easily available on supermarket shelves these days, it is full of gums, emulsifiers and other nasties. The homemade stuff on the other hand is rich, creamy and full of natural goodness from the almonds - enjoy!

Ingredients for Homemade Almond Milk

1 cup raw almonds
water for soaking almonds
3 cups water, for blending
2-3 tablespoons maple syrup (or 2 pitted dates)
pinch of saffron
3-4 green cardamoms (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
cheese cloth or nut milk bag

Homemade Almond Milk Recipe Video

Recipe

Soak almonds in water overnight or for at least 6 hours.
Pound green cardamoms in a mortar and pestle. Discard shells and set aside pounded seeds.
Drain water from the almonds, discard the murky water and rinse the almonds. Blend 3 cups of water, almonds, saffron, cardamom powder and maple syrup until very smooth.
Place a strainer lined with 2-3 layers of cheese cloth (or a nut milk bag) over a large bowl or saucepan. Strain the blended almond mixture through the cheesecloth/bag for about 20 minutes. Next, squeeze the cloth/bag of ground almonds to get as much milk out as possible. Serve chilled. Refrigerate for up to 3 days.