Recipes with Coconuts

In my earlier post, I covered coconuts,

here are a few recipes with coconuts-

Hyderabadi Chicken curry

Ingredients–

3 chicken legs cut in half,

5 tbsp. oil,

2 medium onions crushed,

½ tsp caraway seeds,

3 green cardamoms,

3 cloves,

1-inch cinnamon stick,

1 tsp each ginger and garlic paste,

4 green chilies chopped fine,

1 tsp each salt and chili powder,

300 ml coconut milk,

100 ml thick yogurt mixed with 2 tbsp. cashew powder

Method–

Heat the oil in a pan and fry caraway seeds, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Add the onion puree and ginger garlic paste and let it turn brown a bit. Next, add the salt, chili powder, and chopped chilies, and continue frying whilst stirring continuously.

Add a little water if browning too quickly, adds the chicken and cook for 5 minutes until it turns pale. Add the coconut milk, yogurt, cashew powder, and 1 cup water and let it come to a boil. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked.

Coconut and cherry muffins

ingredients

150 gms self-rising flour,

60 gms butter chopped,

½ cup (35 gms) grated coconut,

½ cup (100 gms) Glace red cherries halved,

75 gms powdered sugar,

140 ml coconut milk,

1 egg lightly beaten,

2 tsp. cherry syrup or flavoring.

Method-

Sift the flour in a large bowl; rub in the butter with your fingertips till it resembles breadcrumbs. Sift in the sugar and stir with a spatula. Mix in the remaining ingredients and combine. Spoon the batter into six muffin molds and bake at 200c gas mark 6 for 25 -30 minutes.

Coconut and berry cake bars

Ingredients

Biscuit base and jam layer

100 gms butter chilled, plus extra for greasing,

175 gms plain flour, plus extra for dusting,

2 tbsp, desiccated coconut,

½ tsp salt;

2 tbsp powdered brown sugar,

1 egg yolk (reserve the white for the cake),

½ tsp vanilla essence,

3 tbsp. raspberry jam

Cake

175 gms butter,

150 gms yogurt,

3 eggs +the reserved egg white,

150 gms plain flour,

¼ tsp salt,

2 tsp baking powder,

175 gms powdered brown sugar,

100 gms desiccated coconut,

175 gms mixed raspberries and blueberries.

Method-

Lightly grease and dust a 23-cm square cake tin and line it with baking powder (grease and dust the baking paper also). For the biscuit base put the flour, butter, and salt into a food processor and pulse to fine crumbs, then pulse in the desiccated coconuts and sugar. Then in a separate bowl beat the egg yolk along with the vanilla essence and about a tablespoon of chilled water, add it to the crumb mixture with the beaters running, to make a soft dough. Remove and roughly press into the prepared cake tin with your hands.

Press down with the back of a spoon to push the batter into the corners and flatten evenly. Prick with a fork, and then chill for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200c, gas mark 6. Bake the biscuit base for 15 minutes or until pale golden. Cool for a few minutes and then spread the jam over the biscuit base. Lower the oven temperature to 180c, gas mark 4.

For the cake, melt the butter in a pan, then take off the heat and using a fork beat the yogurt, then the eggs and the reserved egg white. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and stir in the desiccated coconut and the sugar.

Pour the egg and yogurt batter into the flour mixture and mix well with a spatula. Pour over the jam base, level the top, and scatter with the berries. Bake for 45-55 minutes until golden and risen all over and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin and then cut into bars and serve.