Freshly prepared coconut milk has immense significance in cooking. From curries to milkshakes to desserts, it can be used in a wide variety of recipes to add extra taste and flavor. So today, let’s learn how to prepare fresh coconut milk at home:
Fresh Homemade Coconut Milk Recipe
- Preparation time required: 5 minutes
- Cooking time required: 5 minutes
- Total time required: 10 minutes
- Serving: 2 large cups
(a) Ingredients:
- Fresh coconut – 1 medium-sized
- Water – 2 large cups
(b) Method:
- At first, crack open the coconut along its middle section and store the water in a separate bowl.
- Grate the white flesh properly so that it yields at least 1 large cup of the ingredient.
- Pour water into a small saucepan and warm it up slightly.
Step 1: Preparation of Thick Coconut Milk
- Put the grated coconut in a mixer grinder and pour 1 cup of warm water into it.
- Grind well for 1 to 2 minutes until a concoction of smooth texture and moderately thick consistency is formed.
- Shift it to a very fine strainer and press with the backside of a spoon so that the milk is strained perfectly.
- Do not discard the coconut shreds. Rather, keep it in a bowl for the next step.
- Pour it into a cup or any other container. This first milk extracted from coconut flesh is rich and bright and is known as ‘thick coconut milk’.
Step 2: Preparation of Thin Coconut Milk
- Put the coconut shreds obtained from the previous step in the mixer grinder once more.
- Pour rest of the water into it.
- Grind again for a couple of minutes and prepare another smooth mixture of runny consistency.
- Strain it just like the way you did it previously.
- Pour the extract into another cup or container and here is your ‘thin coconut milk’ absolutely ready to use.
Tips:
- Grated coconut can be replaced with small coconut pieces or bits. However, grating the fruit will help you extract the maximum amount of milk from it.
- The coconut mixture can also be strained by using a muslin cloth in case a fine strainer is not available.
- Pressing the coconut shreds with the spoon makes sure that you get the maximum amount of milk.