Peanut and Rice Dahi

This delicious delicately flavoured peanut and rice dahi will blow you away. It may take a couple of attempts to get it right but the effort is worth it. And it’s economical to boot!

Credit: Dairy Alternatives

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup rice, preferably unpolished
• 2/3 cup pink peanuts (the darker coloured peanuts are a bit bitter)
• 4 cups water

Ingredients for setting the milk use any one of these

• 8 green chillies
• 2-3 tbsp non-dairy yoghurt (curd)
• Yoghurt starter culture or probiotic capsules (quantity as per pack instructions)

Method

1. Soak the rice overnight or for eight to ten hours in a cup of water.
2. In the morning, drain the rice and rinse it once.
3. Blend the soaked rice with 2/3 cup of water to get a fine consistency.
4. Strain it through a muslin cloth.
5. Repeat again with 1/3 cup of water or a little more to ensure the blades in the blender move smoothly.
6. Rice milk is ready.
7. Soak the peanuts for 4 hours. The dahi may not set well if soaked for longer.
8. Drain the peanuts and rinse once.
9. Blend the peanuts with one and a half cups of water.
10. Strain the milk through a thin muslin cloth or a nut milk bag.
11. Pour the peanut milk into a thick bottomed steel pot and bring it to a boil, stirring continuously. Turn down the heat and cook it for 8 minutes.
12. Add the rice milk into it, one spoon at a time, stirring gently to blend it in.
13. Once all the rice milk has been added, cook it for another 8 minutes.
14. Pour it into a glass bowl or a mud pot and allow it to cool till it is lukewarm.
15. Break off the tops of the chillies and place them on top of the milk gently pressing the base of the chilli tops into the milk. The base of the chilli tops contain the bacteria that will help set the dahi.
16. Cover the pot lightly and place it in a warm place where it can remain undisturbed for 8 hours. If the weather is cold, it may require up to 12 hours.
17. The first time you make the dahi, it will be a bit thin.
18. Use a cup of this as a starter to set the next bowl of peanut milk which will turn out to be thick and delicious.
19. Use the rest of the first dahi to make chhaas or in a kadhi thickened with besan (chickpea flour).

Note: You can buy the book Dairy Alternatives here for more plant-based dairy-free recipes.