ramyaramesh3007This creamy and refreshing spiced mexican drink is made from scratch with rice, almonds and cinnamon that will leave you wanting for more!
Horchata is a rice based cold beverage that’s cooling and refreshing for hot summer temperatures. It can still be enjoyed all year round if you’re craving something creamy, sweet and spiced. There are different types of Horchata: for example, the Spanish version uses tiger nuts while Puerto Rico uses white, grounded sesame seeds.
When made fresh with rice and raw almonds, the drink comes together beautifully and adding fresh spices like cinnamon do remind me of the festive season. It’s like making a nut milk with added flavours from natural ingredients from scratch at home!
What You Need
- long grain rice – this was convenient because I always have long grain basmati rice at home.
- almonds – soaking raw almonds together with the rice makes the blending process easier and add an incredible aroma (basically fresh almond milk!)
- cinnamon sticks – you can use ground cinnamon but the flavours from fresh cinnamon stick is unmatched!
- plant milk – you can use almond milk or anything other plant milk. I used oat milk to add to the richness and creaminess.
- condensed milk – this is optional, but I wanted to add some thickness and sweetness by using coconut condensed milk.
- vanilla bean paste – for extra flavour
- sweetener – if the drink needs a sweetener because you’re not using condensed milk, you can try adding maple syrup or agave syrup. Both work perfectly!
Tips to make a smooth Horchata
1. Soak for long
Soak rice, almonds and nuts in water overnight so it’s easier to blend – discard the water after soaking them as they may contain not-so-nice stuff for the body (you can look it up!)
2. Strain with a cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer
The last thing we want when drinking a Horchata is to be engulfed in raw rice grain bits and spices that were not fully strained. Remember to strain the mixture after blending with a cheesecloth or nut milk bag to get the milk and pulp as separately as possible.
3. Blend multiple times, if required
If there is a lot of pulp, I would suggest adding the pulp back into the blender and adding a cup of water to blend and drain more milk again. Milk it as much as possible!
Vegan Horchata
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 cups hot water
- 2 cups oat milk or any plant milk
- 2/3 cup condensed coconut milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
- ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Wash rice and drain. Soak rice, almonds and cinnamon stick in 2-3 cups of water overnight.
- Drain excess water and add rice, almonds, few pieces of broken cinnamon sticks and 2 cups of hot water to a high speed blender.
- Blend on high for 2 minutes. Strain with a cheesecloth. If there is a lot of pulp remaining, toss in the blender and add a cup of water. Repeat the process.
- The milk is ready. Add coconut condensed milk and whisk until fully combined. Add oat milk, vanilla bean paste, pinch of cinnamon and give it a good mix.
- Serve over ice and sprinkle with cinnamon before serving. Enjoy!