If you are lactose intolerant and looking out for milk substitutes, then go ahead and try soy milk as it has numerous health benefits.
Soy milk is made from soaked de-skinned soy beans and water. It is known to be a close non-dairy substitute to cow’s milk, which contains the similar amounts of proteins but has lesser calories, fats and carbohydrates.
How does soy milk benefit you?
Drinking soy milk can help you in your weight loss routine as it has the required fibre to control your apetite, keep you satiated longer and in turn decrease the calorie intake. Soy milk contains monounsaturated fats that can curb the accumulation of fat in the body.
Soy milk contains calcium and fatty acids, which can benefit those who have arthritis (the inflammation of the joints). Soy milk can also help maintain the levels of cholesterol by decreasing the production of LDL or bad cholesterol and increase the HDL or good cholesterol production. Soy milk contains potassium that can counter the excess levels of sodium and manage blood pressure. It is also useful in treating anemia as it is rich in iron and calcium.
Here’s how you can make soy milk at home:
Ingredients:
1 cup soybeans
Water
Method:
Step 1: Soaking the soybeans in water
Into a bowl, add in the soy beans and soak them in 4 cups of water for 8 to 10 hours or overnight.
Step 2: Removal of the soybean skin
After the beans have been soaked in water, they will need to be strained and rinsed before removing all the skins of the soybeans. The skins will peel off easily once the beans have been soaked.
Note: Remove the skins as best as you can, you do not need to worry about the few leftover skins as the soymilk is going to be strained.
How to make rich protein milk, watch video –
Step 3: Blending the soybeans with water
Into a mixer blender, add in the peeled soybeans along with 6 cups of water. Blend this mixture until it becomes a fine and smooth liquid.
Tips:
- You could pour in the water little by little to get the soybeans to blend well and get the fine and smooth consistency.
- You could also increase or decrease the amount of water as per how thick and strong you’d like your soy milk to be.
Step 4: Straining the mixture
Once the soybeans and water have combined well and blended into a fine and smooth liquid, pour the mixture into a muslin cloth or cheese cloth to get the soymilk.
For this step, you need to squeeze the milk out from the blended mixture into a bowl.
Step 5: Heat the soymilk
Into a heating pot, pour in the homemade soymilk and heat on low flame for around 20 minutes, before increasing the flame and letting it come to a boil. turn off the flame and let it cool down completely before refrigerating.
Tip: Remember to stir the milk from time to time, in order to avoid the milk from sticking to the sides of the heating pot.
Well, that’s how you can make your own soymilk at home. Also note that this milk can last even up to 4 days in a refrigerator.