Home-Made Nuts Powder

Home-Made Nuts powder is something which I have been making since Jeremy was a 9 month old. Initially to introduce nuts, I used to powder each nut separately (one day each) and mix with every food. As he grew older I realized he hates whole nuts especially Almonds and Pistachios. Cashews are still ok with him provided they are salted ones. But still he wasn't consuming much. Thats when I decided to continue making the essential and important nut powder. He hates the fact that nuts or chunky powder has been added and just rejects the whole meal even though its tasty and likes it. But this fine nut powder is a winner and I add it up in almost everything on a daily basis. So this nut powder is perfect for fussy kid like mine or if you just wanna introduce nuts to your kids diet, this is a good solution. Its pretty simple and fuss free. 

The powder is suitable for babies over 8 months, but before you feed this to your baby, make sure that baby has already tried the powdered version of each nut individually, so you can be sure that the mix will not cause an allergic reaction. 

There are many ways you can give this to your baby – add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in kheer or porridge, and for older kids, you can add a teaspoon of nuts powder to a glass of milk, or just add this delicious powder to all your signature dishes! Let's check it out how its done. 

See Notes: **

Ingredients: 

• Almonds/Badam - 1/2 cup
• Cashews - 1/4 cup
• Pistachios - 1/4 cup
• Whole Cardamom - 2 (Optional) for extra flavour 
• Saffron - 1/4 tsp (Optional)
• Palm Sugar or brown sugar - 1/2  (optional)

Method: 

1. The first step is to blanch the almonds. For that, heat a cup of water in a saucepan until its boiling and add the almonds to it. Keep it closed for 3-4 minutes. After 3 minutes, add cold water to it and drain the water completely from it.
2. Transfer the drained almonds to a clean absorbent cloth and pat dry it. Peel the skin off from the almonds and pat dry them once again.
3. Alternatively you can buy blanched or flaked almonds and avoid this step completely. 
4. Then dry roast the blanched almonds in a pan until it's hot to touch**. Keep aside and cool it down.
5. Next, dry roast the cashews until its hot to touch. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
6. Similarly, dry roast the pistachios until it is hot to touch. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
7. Now add the roasted almonds, cashews, pistachios along with cardamom & saffron (If using) to a blender.
8. Add in the palm sugar/brown sugar as well (if using) to the blender and give a run. 
9. Use the pulse option in the mixie. Don't grind too much, just pulse it for 10 seconds every time. 
10. Then, sieve the powder using a sieve. Keep the sieved fine powder aside. 
11. Then, collect the rest of the hard particles and add them to the blender and grind/pulse again till everything is processed well and you get smooth nuts powder. 
12. Cool it down and store it in an airtight container. 
13. You can also store it in fridge, specially if you live in a humid place. Stays good for one to two months 
14. Use this powder by mixing into milk, adding in dosa, pancake batters, Smoothies, purees, all kinds of baked goods and even mixing it in pasta or rice before serving. 

Notes : 

• Don't dry roast for a long time, as it may leave out the oil. 
• Dry roast it each nut until it is hot to touch.
• Never run the mixer/blender for more than 10 seconds when grinding as nuts may leave out oil if you blend continuously, use pulse option only in the mixie/blender.
• Sieve it well to get a fine powder.
• Grinding the nuts with sugar helps to get a fine powder. So try and add the brown sugar or palm sugar. But this optional. 
• Make sure to use a dry and airtight container for storing always. I usually keep it in fridge as I stay in  humid place. It stays good for almost 1 to 2 months for me in refrigerator.
• Always use a dry spoon to scoop out the amount you need & store back in the airtight container.