How-To 16: Make Almond Milk-raw, vegan

Almond milk is a versatile and simple to make alternative to dairy or soya milk

For the sake of variety and not relying too much on any one food, it's good to have something other than soya milk on hand for cereals, smoothies, baking and shakes. If you don't like to buy too much commercially-made stuff in packets (which often has lots of unwanted extra ingredients and can be expensive) making your own plant milks is the solution. This month we show you how to make almond milk, one of the creamiest-tasting plant milks.  If you get your almonds in bulk from a company like Suma, that's a great way of being able to afford organic too. Bear in mind though, that it is lower in protein than dairy or soya milk so adjust your diet accordingly. (For babies, it is not a substitute for breast milk, either.) Almond milk is often thought of as a modern vegan invention, but in fact it has a long history of use stretching back to Medieval times from Southern Europe to the Middle East. (It became popular amongst Christians as a Lenten food). The method we use here to make almond milk is the most commonly used, but you can also make almond milk from almond butter, by simply blending it with water. You will need a food processor or good blender/ grinder to make your own almond milk, but apart from that it's really simple. There are no quantities given in these instructions, but for a very rough rule of thumb, one cup (250ml) of soaked almonds plus one cup of water make just under a cup of almond milk.

1: Soak the almonds in water overnight.

2: Roll them together between your hands and the skins should rub off fairly easily. You don't want the skins as they have a slightly bitter flavour. This job can be tedious if you have a lot of almonds, but it's worth it. Get a friend to help!

3: The skinned and soaked almonds.

4: Put your almonds in the food processor and grind until as fine as possible- a lot finer than this picture shows, in fact. The idea is to get them so that the oil is just beginning to come out of them, like when you make peanut butter. When ready, they will mostly be a paste made of fine powder, some moisture and some oil.

5: Gradually add cold water as you blend the almonds. How much is up to you. Use a little and you get "cream"; more and you get a liquid milk. Just keep checking for the consistency you want.

6: You can press the almonds and water through a fine-meshed seive...

7: ...Or squeezing through a muslin cloth, if you have one, is even more efficient. You can keep the solid pulp in the fridge and use it in pates, burgers etc. Add a natural sweetener of your choice (pureed dates are good), or a little vanilla if you like, but we keep ours plain.

Keep your almond milk refrigerated in a glass jar or jug, and enjoy using it however you like! If you would like some ideas, click on these links:
http://theyogivegetarian.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/banana-berry-almond-milk-shake-vegan.html
http://theyogivegetarian.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/banana-date-pb-green-smoothie-vegan.html
http://theyogivegetarian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/amazing-almonds-event-roundup.html