On World Milk Day, June 1, we reinstate the importance of milk as a global food. This day was designed to focus attention on milk, as an important part of our diet. It further strives to publicise activities connected with milk production, milk industry, and a sector that supports livelihoods and communities.
As concerned citizens towards environment and animal welfare, we thought of bringing to your attention a ‘source of milk’ that is revered by citizens across the globe. Yes, the source is Mother Earth!
Plant-based is a diet of minimally processed foods. Plant-based milk are non-dairy alternatives, made from nuts, seeds, coconut, and grains. They are catching prominence for their health benefits, cruelty free nature, and sustainable factor. Plant-based milk are ideal solution for health-conscious people who are concerned about their long-term health.
Research shows that a plant-based diet, including plant milk is helpful in preventing hypertension, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and some kinds of cancer. These are also the key for those who are lactose intolerant.
We do not need dairy milk to be healthy! Approximately one in 10 global consumers is actively trying to reduce his or her dairy consumption, a reflection of efforts to embrace plant-based foods.
On this World Milk Day, we present to our readers some ingenuous and indigenous methods to produce ‘non-udder’ or plant-based milk that guarantee ‘wholesomeness’ and ‘natural goodness’ of ‘fruit of the earth’.
These methods have been shared by Shankar Narayan, a born lacto-vegetarian, who stopped drinking dairy milk after reading Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’.
He was impressed by the vegan movements across America and Europe and started his own Satvik Vegan Society. Shankar Narayan decided to prepare various plant-based milk out of
COCONUT 
CASHEW 
ALMOND
RAGI 
SESAME 
OAT
FLAX SEED 
RICE
- Coconut
- Cashew
- Almond
- Ragi (finger millet)
- Sesame
- Oat
- Flax seeds and
- Rice
Ingredients
For two glasses of milk, you need
- 500 ml water (2 glasses)
- cashews (20 medium-sized)/ragi (50 gm)/almonds (20)/sesame (10 gm)/ripened coconut-1/flax seeds (20-25 gm)/rice – brown unpolished (100 gm)/oats (30-40 gm)
- sweetener is optional – jaggery or dates (40 gm, seeded and ground smooth)
The recipes are simple 5 step process.
- When making cashew, almond, ragi, sesame and rice milk –
- Soak for 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Drain water. Do not use soaked water as it may contain pesticides and preservatives.
- Smooth grind with sufficient water.
- Add sweetener (optional)
- Consume raw.
- When making oat milk (not goat milk 😉), there is no need of soaking the oats. Make an instant paste. Soaking leads to ‘paste like’ texture. Oat milk goes well with coffee too.
- Flax seeds can be soaked for 1 hour. Grind them adding some extra water. One gets creamy milk with nutty flavour. Can be had with jaggery and lemon.
- Coconut milk can be prepared by scraping the interiors of coconut with a scraper, and ground in mixie jar with some water. Water is added based on the thickness required. Strain the beverage before consumption.
- Ragi and sesame can either be soaked for an hour or used instantly, although it is observed that the preparation is creamier with soaking. Ragi milk can be strained before consumption.
- Some people find almond milk grainy if not strained.
- Cashew, coconut, and oat milk are good with coffee.
- Almond is good with tea.
- Do not boil the plant-based milks with tea or coffee as they may curdle.
All these milks are made and consumed raw. Filtering/straining is optional. No need to heat, boil or refrigerate. Consume fresh! Stay healthy!!
Monica (Managing Editor) is the quintessential researcher - she thrives on showcasing overlooked aspects that form the foundation blocks of people, places and issues. She is a social scientist by profession with masters in Economics and loves to travel.