Ingredients:
- 1/2 Coconut
- 2 cups Water
You can find coconuts all over India, and turning their flesh (the kernel) into coconut milk is easy and quick (especially if you have a coconut scraper, but if you don’t, we have you covered!).
Break a coconut open in half (and make sure you collect the water inside: there won’t be a lot inside a mature coconut, but it is delicious!) and extract the kernel by using one of two methods.
If you have a coconut scraper then your task is very easy: just scrape the kernel to remove all the flesh from the shell.
If you do not have a coconut scraper, removing the kernel will take you a bit more time but it’s worth it. First, put the coconut half into the refrigerator. After 15 minutes take it out and slowly but surely run a short knife along the inside of the shell, detaching the kernel from the shell. Keep running the knife along the inside of the shell, going deeper and deeper until you’ve detached the whole kernel.
Since you are making milk, you want to remove the thin brown skin (that you don’t get when you use a scraper) so that your milk is sweet. Then cut this de-skinned kernel into small pieces.
Put the coconut into a blender, add the water and blend well. Strain the milk using a muslin cloth and put the strained coconut milk in the refrigerator where it will stay fresh for 4 – 5 days. Make sure you shake it well before using it, as plant-based milks tend to separate while stored.