In South Africa, we pay around R12.00 - R16.00 for a 500g pack of desiccated coconut (Dry shredded), and anything between R19.99 to R32.00 for a 410g can of coconut milk and between R42.00 - R50.00 for 500g of coconut flour.
As the saying goes, if you are Indian, Scottish or Jewish, it's an instinct to look for value for money. I am Indian!
So, how do we get more for R16.00?
First, do you own a blender?
Second, do you own a coffee grinder?
Or if you are a pro chef, you probably have all the gadgets needed to make magic! :-)
Coconut Milk
Ingredients
500g pack of desiccated coconut
3 cups water
A blender
A large bowl
Sieve
A clean dish towel
A large glass jar with a lid
Method
Add half the bag of desiccated coconut into your liquidizer, add 1 and a half cups of warm water. Let it stand for about 10 minutes and then blend for 3 minutes. Place a sieve over the large bowl, rinse the clean dish towel with warm water and thoroughly squeeze dry, then place the dish towel over the sieve and pour out the contents of the blender into the wet dish towel.
Wrap the contents from the blender with the dish towel - almost like squeezing a piping bag, but with more strength, so that all the coconut milk is emptied out in to the bowl.
When there is no more liquid running out of the dish towel, empty it out in a baking tray and set it aside. Pour the coconut milk into a clean sterilised glass jar. Repeat the process with the other half of the desiccated coconut.
Seal the jar with a lid and keep in the fridge and use as desired for breakfasts (ground mixed seeds, fruit nuts and warm coconut milk), for use in pancake batter and for cooking with meat and veggies.
Coconut Flour
Ingredients
The liquid drained coconut shreds that you set aside in a baking tray
Method
Turn oven on to 190 deg cel.
distribute coconut shreds evenly on the baking tray and place in the oven. Keep an eye out on it as it toasts. Remove from the oven every 20 minutes and stir and distribute coconut evenly again - the coconut on the edges will normally brown quicker than in the middle.
Once the coconut shreds are evenly golden brown, remove it from the oven and allow to cool.
Using a coffee grinder or any food processor that can grind finely, grind the toasted coconut until it is fine enough to use as coconut flour.
Store in an air tight container for future use.
There you have it! :-) Depending on your usage of coconut milk, you can easily make this once a week or every two weeks.
Coconut Cream
When the homemade coconut milk sits in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight, the cream rises to the top. So you can also get coconut cream for use as toppings over pancakes and to eat with fruit.
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| When coconut milk stands for a few hours, the cream rises to the top You can scoop this out and then mix the rest to form a thinner coconut milk |
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| Left: Freshly made coconut milk Right: Refrigerated overnight coconut milk - resulted in coconut cream rising to the top |
