Chicha de maní is an Andean beverage built on toasted peanuts and corn, simmered together into a creamy, lightly spiced drink. The peanuts are toasted and ground, then cooked with corn, cinnamon and clove and sweetened, yielding a thick, nutty, warmly fragrant liquid. Unlike fermented chicha de jora, this is a non-alcoholic everyday drink, served warm or cold. It is a nourishing, homey staple of highland kitchens.
In Peru chicha names a broad family of traditional drinks, both the fermented maize chicha de jora and many non-alcoholic chichas built on corn, fruit or grains. Chicha de maní belongs to the Andean home tradition and is also well known in neighboring Bolivia, where peanuts and corn are everyday staples; it is a folk preparation without a single documented origin or date. Peanuts have been cultivated in the Andes and South American lowlands for thousands of years, and pairing their richness with corn yields the drink's characteristic creamy body. It is made at home and sold by highland vendors rather than tied to one city or inventor.
Creamy and opaque, the color of café au lait, with a thick, slightly grainy body from the ground peanuts and corn. The flavor is rich and deeply nutty, gently sweet, and warmed through with cinnamon and clove. It coats the mouth like a light atole and feels filling and comforting. Good steaming hot on a cold highland evening or chilled in warmer weather.
Toasting the peanuts develops their oils and deep roasted aroma through the Maillard reaction, the foundation of the drink's flavor. Grinding them releases their fat and protein, which emulsify into the liquid as it simmers and give the drink its creamy, opaque body without any dairy. Cooking the corn alongside contributes starch that thickens the brew, while cinnamon and clove infuse their warm aromatics; gentle simmering and straining yield a smooth, full-bodied cup.
Variations
Some cooks use only corn and peanuts, others add a little rice or barley for extra body; cinnamon and clove are standard, and a touch of milk or evaporated milk makes a richer version. It can be served piping hot like a warming atole or well chilled. Bolivian versions are very similar and equally beloved.
On the Palate
Where Chicha de Maní sits in the Peruvian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
7 steps · 25 min active + 25 min waiting
- 18 min
Toast the raw peanuts in a dry pan until golden and fragrant, then rub off the skins.
Watch outToast the peanuts until golden and fragrant — this Maillard browning is the whole foundation of the drink's roasted flavor, so don't leave them pale.
- 24 min
Grind the toasted peanuts to a coarse meal.
- 320 min
Simmer the corn with cinnamon and clove in water until the corn is soft.
- 410 min
Add the ground peanuts and continue to simmer, stirring, so the mixture thickens and turns creamy.
Watch outAdd the ground peanuts and keep stirring as it simmers — their fat and protein emulsify in to give the creamy, opaque body, and stirring stops it scorching.
- 52 min
Sweeten with sugar to taste.
- 63 min
Strain the drink through a sieve for a smooth body.
- 71 min
Serve hot, or chill and serve cold over ice.
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