Lentil-Oat Milk Recipe for Non-fat Veggie Yogurt and Pudding:

August 9, 2009

Okay, this is my recipe. I'm it's creator so I guess I'd appreciate any credit

or feedback, if any's due. I can't promise to post other recipes, as I'm not a

big recipe keeper or follower. Also I should note that this is not a primer for

yogurt making. You otherwise need to know how to sterilize your containers and

utensils you use in boiling water beforehand and how to handle and incubate your

culture without contaminating it. A good way to find out about those things is

to join Erin's homemade yogurt group or you can google for detailed recipes on

homemade yogurt making. I can't recommend the manual procedures for making this

" milk " on the stove top as it is much, much more work to do. But if you have a

soymilk machine, it's no more work than making a batch of soymilk, can be even

less expensive, and the results can be very good -- splendid and satisfying

after a time or two -- once you adjust your recipe to just how you like your

yogurt or pudding texture.

For general yogurt making help:

http://health.homemade_yogurt/

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+homemade+yogurt/

Let me know how it goes...

Slim Langer

Lentil-Oat Milk for making Veggie Yogurt and Pudding:

This makes a good tasting, natural, inexpensive, very low-fat, low-sugar,

high-fiber, vegetarian/vegan yogurt medium that does not separate. Without any

thickeners or stabilizers, it sets on its own in the fridge to a thick-set

pudding texture that's great for yogurt and pudding. The lentil milk and yogurt

tastes similar to soymilk and very similar to soy yogurt. The same cultures and

flavorings can be used.

Although a similar procedure can be followed with other types of legumes, such

as white or black beans, or garbanzos, they will not set into such a nice

pudding texture as lentils or split peas.

Since the lentils or peas absorb noticeably less water than soybeans, there is

room to add more of them than the typical amount of soybeans used to make milk

in a soymilk machine, to have a thicker product.

To make 2 liters or 1/2 gallon+ of yogurt or pudding:

Ingredients:

160 grams, ~3/4 cup approximately, of dry brown lentils or dry split peas.

2 tablespoons rolled whole oat cereal, dry (optional)

1-2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups water to soak the lentils or peas (will be discarded)

2 liters or so (1/2 gallon plus one or two cups) of water for the yogurt

batch

1 cup of an active, live yogurt culture.

Making the milk requires either a soymilk making machine or kitchen equipment to

make homemade soymilk in a traditional way on the stovetop.

To use a soymilk machine with capacity other than two liters, just reduce or

increase the amounts of ingredients proportionately.

Use the texture and setting of your first batches of yogurt to adjust the

thickness of yogurt to just where you like it. Increasing the amount of lentils

and cornstarch or using less water, increases the thickness and firm-set

qualities. Decreasing them has the opposite effect to make a thinner yogurt with

a less-firm set.

Procedure:

a) Wash and soak the lentils or split-peas for 5-7 hours in about 3 times their

volume of water. Longer soaking may increase the possibility of having a

less-firm set or even an " applesauce " texture result, which is not as much fun

to eat, though still edible and tastes good.

b) Strain the lentils and load them with the dry oats and the cornstarch into

your soymilk machine as per its directions. The heating and grinding process of

the machine should disperse, mix and cook the cornstarch, if used, to improve

the final set and texture of the yogurt.

c) Run the soymilk maker as you would to make soymilk, except:

Lentils tend to scorch more easily than soybeans in the soymilk machine. So if

you detect a burning smell while the soymilk maker is going through its cycle

you'll want to turn off the heating of the machine once a pasteurizing

temperature (180 F) is reached for the milk. You can even switch off the machine

after the grinding is done and a pasteurizing temperature has been reached and

let the closed machine set hot for twenty minutes to finish its cooking of the

milk. There should be no burned smell or smokey taste, as this can ruin the

batch.

d) Transfer the cooked milk to a suitable covered and heat-safe container. Stir

in the brown sugar and salt while it's still hot. The yogurt culture requires an

actual sugar, rather than a non-caloric sweetener to work, but you can adjust

the sweetening and other flavoring to your taste as you would soymilk. The taste

is similar.

e) Close the container and let it cool down to the incubation temperature of

your yogurt culture. A water bath is helpful for this. A good way to make a

water bath is to fill a sink or large pot with cold water.

f) When the milk has cooled to the incubation temperature stir in your active

yogurt culture. In cooling there may be some small clumps in the milk that have

begun to set. To improve the final texture of the yogurt, you can pour the milk

through a wire-strainer that's been sterilized with your yogurt utensils, or

dipped in a bowl of boiling water and rinsed in cold water.

g) Transfer the milk to your sterilized yogurt container(s) and incubate at the

appropriate temperature and time for your culture. The lentil milk will usually

remain a thick liquid through the incubation.

h) After the incubation refrigerate. The yogurt begins to set after 10 to 12

hours. It also gets more firm and more sour as the yogurt gets older. I think it

has the best texture when eaten within two or three days.

--------------------

For making the lentil-oat milk on the stovetop, you can follow procedures

similar to making traditonal handmade soymilk:

Use the same ingredients as above.

Requires:

o Two pots each large enough to hold the liquid yogurt batch

o A strainer or collander that can be fitted over the pots

o A clean linen-type filter cloth with fairly coarse weave or cheese-cloth for

straining the milk.

o A reasonably powerful regular blender, food processor, or an immersion

blender.

Watch your pots carefully and guard against boil-overs, or as with soymilk there

can be quite a mess.

Regular Blender:

To use a regular blender or a food processor, you can take advantage of the

quick cooking nature of lentils and it's lack of beany taste.

Divide the ingredients if necessary into batches that your blender can handle.

For two or three batches, this will be about a cup to a cup and a half of soaked

lentils to each batch. To the blender add a batch of the lentils, dry oats and

cornstarch. Cover with two to three cups of boiling water, or more, depending on

the capacity of the blender. Start the blender slowly and gradually blend up to

high-speed for up to two minutes or until the batch is thoroughly blended.

With the strainer or colander positioned over one pot with the filter cloth,

pour each blender batch through the cloth and strainer into the pot and let

drain. To speed up this process, with thick kitchen gloves you can gather up the

ends of the filter cloth, squeeze and wring the cloth, retaining the okara in

the filter cloth and catching the liquid in the pot. When all the lentils have

been processed, add in enough water so that total volume of milk is 9 or 10

cups, a little over two liters.

Gently stir and heat the pot on the stove to below a boil, approximately 180 to

190 F. Cover and allow the milk to cook for 20 minutes or so, keeping the

temperature below a boil.

Allow the milk to cool and follow an appropriate yogurt making procedure for

your culture, as from 'd' above.

Immersion blender:

To use an immersion blender, cover your soaked and drained beans, oats and

cornstarch with about two and half quarts or liters of water. Water will be lost

in the cooking and straining. GENTLY heat the water to below a boil, 180 degrees

F should be good for pasteurizing and cooking.

When the water is hot, thoroughly blend the beans, oats and cornstarch into a

slurry with the immersion blender directly in the pot.

After blending, keep the pot cooking gently at below a boil for 20 minutes or

so. When you're sure the pot will not boil over you can cover it to help keep

your water from evaporating.

Once the milk is cooked strain the okara out by pouring it through the filter

cloth placed over the wire strainer or colander placed over your second pot. To

speed up this process, with thick kitchen gloves you can gather up the ends of

the filter cloth, squeeze and wring the cloth, retaining the okara in the filter

cloth and gathering the liquid in the pot.

Proceed with making the yogurt as from 'd' above.

******

August 10, 2009

Thank you, Slim,

for taking the trouble to write this all down!

Kathleen

August 10, 2009

Thank you Slim,

I found that it is complete information and I will try it. I don't have a

machine and now I know that I can make the milk without it.

MD

, " slim_langer " <slim_langer wrote:

>

> Okay, this is my recipe. I'm it's creator so I guess I'd appreciate any credit