• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • My Story
    • Portfolio
    • Subscribe!
    • Privacy policy
  • Recipes
    • By Diet
      • Vegetarian
      • Vegan
      • Gluten-free
    • By Series
      • 5 Ingredients or less
      • Table for two
      • BAKED not Fried
      • On-screen Food
    • By Meal
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Lunch/Dinner
      • Desserts
      • Sauces and curry
      • Drinks & Beverages
      • Snacks
      • Dips and Sides
  • Resources
    • For Bloggers
    • Travelogue
    • Kitchen Wisdom
  • Perspective
  • Green Life
  • Shop
  • Contact

Love is in my Tummy

Plant-based flavor

January 27, 2010 By Tina Dawson Leave a Comment

Grating Coconut Hacks

Grated Coconut hack

Coconuts are an absolute staple in Indian, particularly South Indian cuisine. It’s almost hard to think of a meal that doesn’t have a single scrap of coconut (or coconut extracts) in it. Coconut trees are one of the most useful trees in the world. Like the Plantain, every part of the tree – from stem to fruit can be used for something. The trunk is used as lumber, the dried leaves are used to make thatched roofs, the coconut itself- from husk to flesh is used completely, in almost every stage of its development- not to forget comforting shade and cool respite it provides during the unbearably hot summers. Set up a hammock between two trees and you are all set!

In the US and probably in a lot of other places too, grated coconut is available in the frozen food section in every grocery store, but in India, that’s not usually the case. Since whole coconuts are so common- seriously, you can find coconuts being sold in every street corner all through the year and if not, every house probably has a coconut tree in the backyard to harvest from – we usually buy fresh coconuts and grind it ourselves. Which can qualify as extra ‘work’, especially if you have a billion other things to do in the morning besides cooking.

So here are a few things you can do to save yourself a few extra minutes in the morning.

Coconut Hack #1 – Pre-grate it, freeze it for later.

Step 1: Crack open a fresh coconut. There are so many things you can use to crack it open – from a hammer to a vettukathi (a large, local type of knife for heavy duty jobs) – but this is what I use. It’s a coconut breaker – you just slam the coconut onto the metal edge very carefully until it cracks open. It’s also designed to hold the coconut water as it breaks, much like a citrus juicer.

Coconut breaker

Step 2: Grate the coconut flesh using a Coconut scraper. This is what I use. You place a broken coconut half on the serrated edges and turn the handle. Remember the place a plate under the rotating end to catch the coconut scrapes. This one also comes with a vacuum lock to hold the device in place as you scrape.

Coconut grater

Step 3: Transfer the grated coconut flesh to a clean, dry ziploc bag and freeze until later use. Take what you need and refreeze the rest. Can be frozen for upto 3 months.

Grated Coconut Hack 3
Coconut Hack # 2 – No grating – just blitz it to shreds
Step 1: Crack open a fresh coconut. If there’s any coconut water inside, strain it and drink it immediately. Or use in curries. Personally, I take the selfish route and drink it myself.
Step 2: Rise the insides, and chip away the white flesh away from the shell using a small, sharp knife. Be extra, extra careful while doing this. One distracted second is all it takes to loose a finger.

Grated Coconut without grater

If you don’t want the brown coating that comes away with the white flesh as you chip, just peel it off with a small knife.

Grated Coconut without grater
Step 3: Dab the coconut pieces in a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
Step 4: Place in a clean ziploc bag and freeze till rock solid.
Step 5: Transfer to a small food processor (straight from the freezer, no thawing) and pulse until shredded.

Grated Coconut without grater
Step 6: Re-freeze immediately and use when needed. Take what you need and refreeze the rest. Can be frozen for upto 3 months

Grated Coconut without grater

You might also like

  • Ripe Bananas in 15 minutes!Ripe Bananas in 15 minutes!
  • Forgot to soak chickpeas overnight? No problemo!Forgot to soak chickpeas overnight? No problemo!
  • Microwave KesariMicrowave Kesari
  • Perfectly Cooked RicePerfectly Cooked Rice
  • VEGAN Peanut Shortbread CookiesVEGAN Peanut Shortbread Cookies
  • English Christmas CakeEnglish Christmas Cake

Filed Under: Kitchen Wisdom Tagged With: Kitchen tricks, Make life easier

Next Post: 5 Ingredients or less: Homemade Popcorn »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Tina Dawson Profile Picture

Hi! I'm Tina - the human behind all the content you see on this blog. Welcome to my little corner of the internet where I create flavorful and unique plant-based recipes.

Read More…

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe to Email Newsletter

5 Ingredients or Less Ebook Cover

The Blank Canvas Store - Food Photography Backgrounds and Props Store

BUY CUSTOM FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY BACKGROUNDS + PROPS

Don’t Miss These!

VEGAN Pumpkin Shaped Rolls

VEGAN Pumpkin Shaped Rolls

Caramelised Onions in a plate

Caramelized Onions

VEGAN Iced Mocha Latte on wooden plate with coffee beans strewn on table

VEGAN Iced Mocha Latte

Raspberry Iced Tea

Raspberry Iced Tea

Dairy-free Mocha Hazelnut Cappuccino

[V] Mocha Hazelnut Cappuccino

Puff Pastry Voodoo dolls on a table with Halloween things

Puff pastry Voodoo Dolls

Copyright © 2023 · LOVEISINMYTUMMY · PRIVACY POLICY · CONTACT · StudioPress Themes

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptReject Learn More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT