Plant Milk

Plant milk is the name for drinks made by blending a grain, nut, bean or seed with water and straining it, sold as a dairy free alternative to cow milk. Oat, soya, almond, rice and coconut are the most common. Many South Asian families now keep a carton for a vegan member of the household, for anyone avoiding lactose, or simply for a change in the morning coffee.

Each one behaves differently in cooking. Soya has the most protein and the closest body to dairy, which makes it good for setting a vegan curd or thickening a sauce. Oat is creamy and slightly sweet, and the barista versions hold up best in hot chai without splitting. Almond is light and nutty, good with cereal and in a mango smoothie. Coconut drink, thinner than tinned coconut milk, works in a quick payasam or a mild curry. Check the label for sweetened or unsweetened, and for added calcium if that matters to you.

To keep plant milk from curdling in tea, warm it gently and add it to the brewed tea off the heat, or use a barista style carton. Shake every carton well before pouring, as the solids settle.

Opened cartons keep in the fridge for around five days. Chilled cartons go out on local delivery only. For thick cooking coconut milk that ships across the UK, see tinned coconut milk. Dairy milk is in milk, and both sit under milk and cream. For more dairy free cooking, see the vegan Indian pantry.