Of Donkeys & Dhoklas

So, I run this free WhatsApp group called Vegan Dahi (Curd) & Jaman (Starter) group, where I teach people how to make different kinds of vegan curd at home. It is a vibrant community where the members are always coming up with new and fun experiments in the field of vegan curd. Sounds interesting? Click here to join!   

One day, our co-admin, VK, came up with this brilliant idea of veganizing the age-old trick of creating “starter almonds” by soaking almonds in curd for a few hours. Her experiment was successful, and I was intrigued to try it myself and share this trick with you all. This starter was christened “Akhand Badam” by our group member, Meghna, because they can be rinsed, refrozen, and reused indefinitely under ideal conditions.

It is a great idea to freeze a batch of akhand badam before leaving for a long trip. This way, you will have a ready-to-use vegan curd starter in the freezer when you return and can immediately resume making vegan curd at home. You can also carry a small box of akhand badam when you are visiting family and friends in other cities and whip up a batch of vegan curd in their kitchens as well.

Preparation time: 24 hours

1 Indian tea cup = 150 ml

Yields 5-6 nos of starter almonds

Ingredients:

>> 5-6 nos big-sized almonds

>> 1/2 cup of any homemade vegan curd or starter liquid*

Method:

1. Soak the almonds in the vegan curd or starter liquid and refrigerate for 24 hours.  
2. Take out the almonds, rinse, and air-dry for a few hours. Your almond starter or “Akhand Badam” is ready!
3. Store the starter almonds in a small air-tight container and freeze. It stays good frozen for up to a year or even more under ideal conditions.

How to Use:

1. Prepare your plant-based milk exactly as you would for making curd. Different ingredients call for different methods of preparation–refer to the individual recipes in the blog for proper instructions.
2. When the milk is lukewarm–you should be able to dip a finger for 5 seconds comfortably–add the starter almonds and swirl the milk. You can set up to 500 ml of curd with 5-6 starter almonds.
3. Keep aside to set. Setting time would vary from 7-8 hours in summer to 16-18 hours in winter. In my experience, setting curd with akhand badam takes longer than setting curd with a liquid starter/previous batch of vegan curd.
4. Once the curd is set, you can take out the almonds, rinse, air-dry, and return to the freezer for future use.

*Use only good quality vegan curd or starter liquid as the soaking medium

Fun tip: You can also use Brazil nuts instead of almonds in this recipe to make Akhand Brazil Nuts! Use 1 akhand Brazil nut to replace two akhand badams.

Also read: 15+ Types of Homemade Vegan Curd and 5+ Types of Homemade Vegan Curd Starters.