Here I am sharing a few ways to make your own plant-based vegan mylk.

Coconut mylk (raw)

This mylk has been used traditionally in Indian and Thai cooking.  It is the easiest to make.

Ingredients

• 1 scrapped coconut
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 date, deseeded if required for sweetening

Procedure

1. Blend the scrapped coconut with the hot water in a blender. Hot water helps remove more mylk.
2. Squeeze the mylk out. This is the first extract. It is thicker and cannot be heated directly. This can be used to make coconut butter or cream.
3. Blend the residue with warm water.
4. Once again squeeze the mylk out. You can do this once or twice to get the thinner, second and third extract. This can be heated directly without risking curdling.
5. Mix both mylk [thick and thin] together or use it separately

Best used for

• Curries, hot and cold beverages, baking, desserts.
• It does not heat well over direct heat.  So a double cooker is advisable.  Also to avoid splitting add a pinch of corn flour, and mix in well, and then heat/boil.
• Can ferment with yogurt starter to make delicious curd.

Soya  mylk

This is the most commonly available mylk.  You can buy it off the shelf but if you want to make it, here’s the recipe

Ingredients

• 100 g soy bean, soaked over night
• Water
• Couple of dates
• A pinch of rock salt

Procedure

1. Blend the soy beans and other ingredients to a smooth paste with enough water to create a thick milk consistency.
2. Strain with a muslin cloth or very fine sieve.
3. Boil over low flame while stirring constantly.

Best used for

• Coffee, hot chocolate, cold coffee, tea, baking, breakfast etc.
• Can be made into curd, but makes for a bland curd.
• There are soy milk maker machines available with select dealers which take care of the whole process.  But this is worth it only if you drink soy mylk regularly.

Almond mylk (raw)

This mylk is slowly gaining popularity and is easily available over the counter.

Ingredients

• 1 cup almonds, soaked for 5 hours
• Water to blend

Procedure

1. Blend to a smooth consistency.  Add water as required.  Strain and use.
2. This mylk can also be boiled, or had just as it is!

Best used for

Tea coffee, hot and cold beverages, cooking baking etc.

Sesame mylk (raw)

This is for those well into plant based since some time. This mylk has 10 times more calcium than 1 big cup of cows milk.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sesame seeds—preferably white-soaked for about 3 hours
• Water as needed
• 2 deseeded dates

Procedure

Blend with water and strain.

Best used for

Curries, cold beverages

Rice mylk

This is a tedious process and not my favorite.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice soaked for four hours—brown is better
• 3 cups of water
• 1 date

Procedure

1. Grind the soaked rice with date into smooth consistency.
2. Strain it if you want smooth milk for beverages.  Do not strain if you are using for cooking purposes or making curd.
3. Put in a double boiler and boil slowly with constant stirring.  Keep adding more water if required.  Be careful that lumps are not formed.

Best used for

Curds, baking, thickening curries, maybe in coffees.

Peanut mylk

This is a popular plant-based alternative especially for making curds

Ingredients

• 1 cup soaked peanuts
• Water

Procedure

1. Blend the peanuts with enough water to make milk consistency.  Sieve if smooth milk is required.
2. Boil over low flame with constant stirring.
3. If making curd, add a little bit of rice milk at the end of boiling and let simmer for a minute.  Cool and add starter.  Keep aside for 8 hours, lightly covered

Best used for

Curds, mylkshakes, coffee and tea, baking.

Cashew mylk (raw)

Simplest to make and tastes very similar to cow’s milk.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw cashews
• Water

Procedure

1. Soak for two hours
2. Blend into milk consistency.

Best used for

Tea, coffee, cooking, baking, curds, etc

Sunflower mylk (raw)

Ingredients

• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• Water

Procedure

1. Soak seeds overnight.
2. Blend into milk consistency.

Best used for

Over cereals, cold drinks, baking.

The post Eight vegan alternatives to milk appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Did you know that the banana plant is not a tree? It is actually the world’s largest herb!

There are over 300 species of bananas; however, only 20 are commercially cultivated. Also, there are two main varieties of the fruit: the sweet banana [the fruit] and the plantain [the cooking banana].

Health benefits

1. Constipation

Bananas are rich in fibre. Including ripe bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, and also overcome the problem of constipation without resorting to the use of laxatives. Avoid unripe bananas though as they are known to cause constipation.

2. Depression

Bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, the feel-good hormone. This is known to aid you to relax, improve your mood and make you feel happy.

3. Heartburn

Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body. If you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

4. Morning Sickness

Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

5. Mosquito bites

Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly useful for reducing the swelling and irritation.

6. Hangover

One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey (see recipe below). Banana calms the stomach and, with the help of honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels. Milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

7. Post-menstrual-syndrome [PMS]

Vitamin B6 in banana regulates your moody blues—a common symptom of PMS.

8. Warts

Some naturopaths believe that a banana peel can eradicate a wart. Take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape.

9. Hypertension

Some doctors in India reckon that eating two bananas a day can reduce blood pressure by 10 per cent—in just a week’s time.

Banana Recipes

Breakfast Banana Shake

Ingredients

• 300 ml skimmed milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 ice cubes
• 1 medium-sized banana-slice

Directions

Blend all the above ingredients at high speed. Pour into a tall glass and sprinkle some cinnamon or chocolate powder on the top.

This serves as an excellent breakfast, ready in minutes. It also gives you all the necessary nutrients to start your day. Your kids will love it, too. Also, “victims” of Saturday Night Fever claim this to be a great cure for their hangover.

Banana Loaf Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour [you can also substitute with wheat flour to make it a healthy food — but, for this, you need to add 2 beaten eggs to the wet ingredients]
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 2 teaspoon baking powder.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt, in a large bowl.
3. Mash bananas, and add one tablespoon oil, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla, in a small bowl. Add beaten eggs to this if you are using wheat flour. You can add your choice of nuts to this mixture too. Walnuts and banana, for instance, make a great combination.
4. In a separate bowl, mix two tablespoon water, one tablespoon oil, and two teaspoons of baking powder. It gets fizzy and this is the secret to the moist soft loaf. Add mixture to the wet mixture in a small bowl and mix well. Now add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until well blended.
5. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a wooden toothpick stuck in the centre comes out clean. Let the bread cool for about 10 minutes.

Serve as a tea snack or a healthy dessert. Also, warm bread can be served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Another advantage: the next time your bananas get over-ripe, you know what to do!

Last updated on 2^nd July 2020

The post 9 health benefits of bananas + 2 nutritious banana recipes appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.