Coconut Milk Recipe | How To Make Coconut Milk

How to make Coconut Milk is explained in this post. Coconut Milk is a handy ingredient for Biryani, Pulao, gravies & sweets. Coconut Milk is made by blending & straining grated coconut to extract milk from it. Homemade Coconut Milk Recipe is explained in this post with step by step pictures and video.

How to make Coconut Milk at home is one the basic posts that many readers kept asking me to post. This will seem very simple to us but this post is mainly for beginners and new cooks. Though readymade coconut milk powders are  available easily in supermarkets it cannot par with the flavour of fresh homemade coconut milk.

How to make Coconut Milk

Coconut Milk is used for many recipes from payasam / kheer to curries / gravies, milkshakes, smoothie etc. Making Coconut Milk at home is very simple and easy. Just grate coconut or cut the coconut flesh from the shelf and add it to blender along with water. Blend well until smooth then squeeze and extract coconut milk. I always use fine holed strainer as its easy for me but you can use a cloth too.

Coconut Milk when added to any curry or kheer can take the dish a level above and lip smackingly delicious as the flavour is so good. Also Coconut Milk has numerous health benefits and helps in healing stomach burns and wounds quickly.

Recipes using coconut milk:

• Moong Dhal Payasam
• Paal Kozhukattai
• Coconut milk peas biryani
• Vegetable Biryani
• Egg curry

Why Homemade Coconut Milk?

Yes many may have this question why to make coconut milk from scratch when tinned / canned coconut milk or coconut milk powder is easily available in supermarkets. Homemade is always best as it is fresh and minus preservatives also the taste and flavour in making fresh coconut milk is so good that it cannot be compared with tinned / canned ones.

Coconut Milk Ingredients

• Coconut – Fresh grated coconut or chopped small coconut bits are recommended for this recipe. Some of the coconuts tastes dry and are not juicy, so choose the one which is more moist and tasty.
• Water – Water is added for blending to extract milk from coconut.

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Coconut Milk Recipe Step by Step

1.First cut open the coconut in the middle and drain coconut water in a bowl – I used chopped coconut pieces as I had it in stock, but you use grated coconut too. Measure and take 1 heaped cup coconut to a blender.

2.Now add 1 cup water to it.

3.Blend well for few seconds.

4.The mixture will be slightly thick and moist.

5.Now transfer this coconut mixture to a fine holed strainer placed over a bowl and press it with a spoon / spatula till all the milk is drained.You can use muslin cloth to drain too.

6.Now the extracted milk is the first coconut milk or thick coconut milk.

7.Press and squeeze until all the milk is extracted and the mixture becomes dry. You will see at one point while pressing the milk will stop coming so this indicates you can stop here.

8.Thick coconut milk is ready. This is suitable to be added only at the last stage and cooking can be done only for a minute or 2 after thick coconut milk is added.

9.If you want a thin version then again add this coconut mixture and add  1/2 cup water, blend and then strain to get the 2nd thin coconut milk.

10.Now add 1 and 1/2 cups of water to it.

11.Blend well for few seconds.

12.As you can see the mixture is a bit runny.

13.Transfer the mixture to the same strainer.

14.Press well to extract coconut milk.

15.This is second coconut milk or thin coconut milk. This is suitable to add for cooking vegetables, meat etc, can be used to boil too.

16.You can stop here or again add water and repeat the process to make very thin coconut milk too.

Thick and thin coconut milk is ready for use.

The below picture is thin coconut milk as you can see it is runny and not thick like thick coconut milk.

Expert Tips

• Fresh Coconut should be used for best results.
• You can add warm water to coconut and soak for few mins to fasten the process.
• The leftover coconut residue can be slightly roasted and used in cookies / cakes.
• I always use fine holed strainer for strainer as its easy for me but you can use a cloth if straining for a bigger batch.

Serving & Storage

You can serve coconut milk mixed with sugar and cardamom powder along with aapam, idiyappam etc. You can serve fresh Coconut Milk as such or use it for currie, kheer, milkshake, smoothie etc.

Coconut Milk is best to be consumed fresh, it keeps well in room temperature for about a day and for 2 days if refrigerated.

FAQs

1.What is Coconut Milk?

Coconut Milk is made by blending & straining grated coconut to extract milk from it.

2.What is Coconut Milk used for?

Coconut Milk can be used for many recipes including payasam, milkshake, smoothie, curries, gravies, biryani, rice, sweets etc.

3.Can I use Coconut Milk for cooking?

Yes you can use Coconut Milk for cooking. Thick Coconut Milk is suitable to be added only at the last stage of cooking as there are chances it might split. Thin Coconut Milk can be used to boil / cook.

4.Can I use coconut milk instead of milk?

Yes coconut milk can be replaced with milk in varoety of recipes but not for all. So make sure to check and analyse before substituting.