Mexican Horchata
·Grind the rice
Put the dry rice into a blender and grind it into small pieces, so the water can later soak up the rice flavour more easily.
Soak the rice
Cover with water and break in 6 cinnamon sticks.
Blend in the morning
The next morning, tip everything, cinnamon included, into the blender and blend again until the rice and cinnamon are completely broken down. Strain the liquid through a cloth.
Add more water and blend again
Take whatever is left in the strainer, put it back into the blender, cover with fresh water and blend once more, so you get the most out of the rice.
Strain again
Strain through the sieve once more, then you can discard the leftover rice and cinnamon in the strainer.
Sweeten it
Stir in a can of unsweetened condensed milk, sugar and the scraped-out seeds of a vanilla pod (you can also use sweetened condensed milk, but in that case skip the extra sugar), then mix everything together well.
Serving
And that's it! Keep it in the fridge, where it will stay good for 2–3 days, and always stir before serving, as rice sediment will settle at the bottom (it's completely harmless). Serve well chilled in summer, or warm it up a little in winter if you like.
