Homemade Aquafaba / Chickpea Brine – The Best Egg White Substitute

I love baking and what I love the most is the experimenting part. I prepare a recipe any number of times but once I get it right I never try it again. Because experimenting is what excites me. As I love eggless baking a lot, there are so may experiments going on in my kitchen daily. Sometime I like to think myself as a researcher who is exploring all the egg substitute possibilities. I have succeeded in substituting whole eggs in recipes but when it comes to egg whites, it is always a mystery. Whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks could never be replicated until a month back.

Yes, I found an vegan alternative to egg whites and I was surprised with the results. If you are following my blog, you will know about the recipes about which I am referring. The water used to cook chickpeas some how acts just like egg whites and whips beautifully, makes delicious mousse, ice cream, meringue, macroons and what not. There is a group dedicated to using the chick pea brine in all types of bakes known as Vegan Meringue – Hits and Misses and recently I became part of that group. I should say that I felt so happy when I whipped my first meringue with the chickpea brine aka aquafaba. Most of the members in the group use the brine which comes in tinned chickpeas. But we don’t get tinned chickpeas here. So what can be the alternative? After some browsing, I saw that it can be made at home. But preparing it to the correct consistency is what matters. Otherwise it is the best alternative to the shop bought ones as it doesn’t have any preservatives or salt and is made in a clean environment.

Update:  After this post, I have been asked so many times about the consistency of aquafaba. To show you, I had to take a video. Please go through the video to find out about the perfect consistency. If you like the video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Ever since I posted the egg free Meringue and Egg Free IMBC, I have been getting so many messages and mails about the consistency of the aquafaba. So I thought why not write a post about it so that any one who is trying it will have a good start? I made a batch with 1 1/2 cups of dried chickpeas and got a little less than 1/2 cup of aquafaba/ chick pea brine. You can also make it in bulk and store in refrigerator or freeze it in ice cube tray and then store the cubes in a ziplock in freezer. It works fine any way. You can even whip the cool aquafaba and by the time it reaches stiff peaks, it will be at room temperature. You can try any egg white based recipe using aquafaba and you will get good results. ANd so many were asking about the chickpea smell in that brine. Do not worry at all. It looks like egg white, it feels like egg white and while baking it smells like egg white. Only thing is that it doesn’t have eggs! Isn’t it incredible? After preparing the IMBC, when I was tasting it, I felt guilty that I was eating eggs!! It was the illusion I got with aquafaba. So don’t hesitate to try it. We have been wasting this water for years when we make chole masala or any other dish we use chickpeas. So here after do not throw it away. Just make a cake or meringue and indulge! Happy baking!!!

Soak 1 1/2 cups of chickpeas overnight.

Wash and pressure cook with water just above the chickpea level. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Once you open the cooker, the water would be below the chickpea level and will not be visible.

Drain the water. It will be brownish liquid and will become thick once cool. IF it doesn’t become thick, boil it for 5 minutes.

The consistency after cooling must be like thick buttermilk. You need to try once or twice to get the exact consistency. I think this can help you start your aqafaba adventures.

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