Why I want to have a blog on the humble coconut is because of the amazing versatility of the plant. In Malay the coconut palm is known as Pokok Seribu Guna, “the tree of a thousand uses”, in Philippines it is known as the Tree of Life, while in India it is termed as the tree that provides all the necessities of life.
What all are coconut used for?
We can use the coconut mainly for cooking purposes:
The white, fleshy part of the inside of the coconut, what we can call the coconut meat is edible and can be used fresh or dried in cooking. There are many varieties of dishes that uses dessicated coconuts. The mutant varieties can also be eaten. Coconut can be used to make coconut caramel, coconut candy and coconut ice cream.
The coconut is filled with a liquid which contains sugar, fibre, proteins, vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants and is a highly nutritious drink. The coconut water from the tender coconut is used as a refreshing drink throughout the humid tropics. It is also an ingredient of isotonic sports drinks. Nature’s packaging is so good that barring breakages the water is sterile until opened.
Coconut milk is made by squeezing grated coconut with water or milk. Coconut unlike coconut water is not drunk alone but used in making a large number of curries and dishes and has a fat content of approximately 17%. When refrigerated and left to set, coconut cream will rise to the top and separate from the milk.
The milk is used to produce virgin coconut oil by controlled heating and removing the oil fraction. Virgin coconut oil is found superior to the oil extracted from copra for cosmetic purposes.
The sap of the coconut can be either drunk fermented as ‘toddy’, a sweet alcoholic drink or non fermented. This can be concentrated by boiling to create a sweet syrup or candy.
Harvesting of buds kill the plants but they are done in certain countries and are known as heart-of-palm. It is eaten in salads and because it is a rare delicacy it is called the “millionaire's salad".
You can extract a very rare type of nectar from the bud and has supposed power of keeping people healthy and fit. A by product a sweet syrup can be used as creamy sugar for desserts.
Newly germinated coconuts contain edible fluff called coconut sprout which is very tasty.
Suggested links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut
http://www.coconutboard.nic.in/
www.thokalath.com/cuisine/kerala_recipes.php
Recipes
Malabar Style Chicken Masala
Ingredients
Chicken 1 (cut into medium sized pieces)Coriander leaves 1 bunch (chopped)Onions 4 (sliced)Garlic 6 cloves (sliced)Ginger 1 1/2 inch (finely chopped)Lime 1/2Coconut 1 (freshly grated)Coconut oil Salt as required
For pastered
chillies 12poppy seeds 1 1/2 tbspcoriander seeds 2 tbspcumin seeds 1/2 tbspturmeric powder 1/2 tspgaram masala powder 1 tbspcashew nuts 1 tsp
Method:
Soak the grated coconut in 1/4 cup of warm water and extract the first (thick) coconut milk by squeezing and keep aside.
Then add additional glass of warm water to the grated coconut and extract the second (thin) milk.
Add 1/2 cup of warm water grind it in a mixer and extract the third (last diluted) milk.
Heat oil and fry the onions, ginger and garlic till brown.
Grind the paste mix and add it to the fried onions and fry for few minutes, now add the coriander leaves.
Now put the chicken pieces and fry, cook over a low flame till the chicken is well browned, add the last milk and cook. Keep adding the 2nd milk slowly and let it simmer for a while.Be careful while adding the coconut milk. If you find the water is more in the curry don't add any more of coconut milk, open the lid and evaporate the water.
After the chicken is cooked, remove from fire. Let there be enough gravy.
Finally add lime juice and the first extracted coconut milk. Don’t boil after the thick coconut milk is added.
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