Want an alternative to dairy milk, nut milk or coconut milk? This creamy beverage features an ancient and nutrient-dense tuber called tigernuts. Enjoy sipping this milk chilled, or use it in your favorite smoothie recipe to highlight the naturally sweet, toasty flavor of the tigernuts.
Ingredients
- 1 cup TigerNuts
- 4 cups filtered water
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, optional
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 Tbs. maple syrup, raw honey or other preferred sweetener, optional
- Pinch of unrefined salt
Materials required
- A nut milk bag, available here
- A high powered blender (I use a Ninja blender)
Instructions
- Place the tigernuts and the water in a bowl, cover with a cloth, and place at room temperature for 24 - 48 hours. The tigernuts will soften and become more crunchy.
- Pour the soaking water (which will lend a bit more flavor to the finished beverage) and the soaked tigernuts in a blender. Blend on high speed for about a minute, until the mixture looks creamy with small bits of tigernut pulp.Add the vanilla, cinnamon, salt and sweetener if using.
- Strain the milk through the nutmilk bag into a container. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the tigernut pulp.
- Don't toss the nutrient-rich tigernut pulp! It it full of the beneficial resistant starch. Reserve the pulp for the suggestions below.
- Chill the tigernut milk before serving. It lasts a few days in the fridge.
Save the tigernut milk pulp!
If you’ve made nut or seed milk before, you know you get two components from the process: the milk and the pulp. The cardinal rule of making your own nut milk? Don’t toss the nutrient-dense pulp!
You’ll find that the tigernut pulp taste a bit bland and dry, since much of the flavor has been squeezed out of it. But it’s still a rich source of resistant starch. Store the leftover pulp in an airtight container in the fridge.
Here are some ways you can repurpose the pulp:
- Make a topping for yogurt, custard or porridge by blending the pulp with a bit of cinnamon and shredded coconut.
- I haven’t tried it, but you could probably use the tigernut pulp in recipes calling for almond pulp. I’m thinking about these raw almond pulp cookies!
- Add a big spoonful of the pulp to your smoothie for a nutrient boost.
- Make energy balls by blending the pulp with some dates or other dried fruit and nuts/seeds of choice. Roll into truffle-sized balls and store in the fridge.
Recipe by Empowered Sustenance
Chris Tantalean
Author