One of the most intriguing ingredients in a recent Spanish-themed Kitchen Trotter box was these Chufa or Tigernuts.
They're not actually nuts at all, they come from the roots of the plant.
These can be made into a drink, called Horchata de Chufa, with water and sugar.
The first thing to do is soak them in water for a couple of days, to remove any impurities.
Once they've been drained and rinsed, they're ready to be used.
You should use a food processor to blitz them but, as I haven't got one, I had to improvise with a stick blender in a bowl and a tea towel to stop all the bits flying everywhere !
This is how they end up. Next, you add water and strain, then repeat twice more until you've worked one litre of water through the ground tigernuts to remove the milk.
It should be sweetened with sugar then chilled for a couple of hours.
This is where I had an #epicfail. I assumed that "for a couple of hours" meant for AT LEAST a couple of hours so I left it in the fridge until the next day. I don't know if it curdled or solidified or turned into a mutant lifeform but this is the gloopy, separated mess I came back to. However much I stirred it, I couldn't get it to go back to the same milky consistency it originally had and it even looked like it had stringy, mucus-like bits in it - not appetising at all !
I strained some into a glass and asked if anyone was brave enough to try it. I was suprised when, in the end, everyone had a taste. It reminds me of almond milk and I noticed on wikipedia that it can be used in place of milk for the lactose intolerant.
Tastewise, it's not horrible but I didn't like the gloopy texture and I wasn't completely reassured that it hadn't gone off so most of it ended up down the sink. Take my advice - if you have a go, don't leave it in the fridge for too long !
Linking up with the Spain round-up on Bloggers Around The World
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I make sure to keep this in mind in case I get in any troubles with being lactose intolerant.
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