Coconut Milk 101: Recipes and Beyond, Read, Watch & Learn

Hello all. Since I started writing recipes for this blog, I realized how much I enjoy using coconut milk. It is so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. I use it to make vegan milk shakes, smoothies, raw or cooked desserts, soups and various curries. It works really well no matter what the recipe is. I felt it deserves a bit of mention in my blog.

Blender: Jump to Recipe  Juicer: Jump to Recipe

What is Coconut Milk?

It is basically milk extracted from shredded brown (mature) coconuts. It has a great texture and opacity. Because of the high fat content, when you leave it in fridge for few hours it forms a thick layer of cream on top.

It is very easy to make at home (you need to do a little work of breaking the shell and chopping it up) and it is also readily available in the supermarkets. I am certainly not a big fan of buying ready-made milks even if it is plant-based as they are loaded with preservative. So read till you reach the recipe of home-made coconut milk, made two different ways.

Why Coconut Milk?

It comes with a host of benefits. It is rich in fiber and MCTs (Medium Chain Triglycerides) along with various vitamins and minerals (iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium). It is also a great source of healthy fats and protein.

According to a recent study by Dr. Axe, this is a great alternative to breast milk.

MYTH: COCONUT MILK HAS CHOLESTEROL

Though I could not find any specific studies on fat content in coconut milk but with my knowledge and experience I know that cholesterol is produced in the liver and plants do not have a liver, so technically speaking, it will be impossible for any plant food to be high in cholesterol.

However, I did come across a study that compares the effect of consumption of coconut oil and butter on the LDL cholesterol levels. If you wish to learn more, you can read the study here.

However, due to its high fat content, you do not need to consume in same amounts as other milk. Around 80-100ml for a person is enough few times a week.

I would still like to mention that if cooked at high temperatures, some nutrient loss will occur. Therefore, I suggest to avoid cooking it at high temperature. Even better if you add the milk to your recipe in the end, after switching off the stove.

CHOLESTEROL LEVELS: If for some reason, we have high amounts of fats (from animal or plant source) that remain undigested in the body, then our liver will generate cholesterol to balance/break these down which in turn can lead to high cholesterol levels. The best way to avoid is to:

• keep a check on the amount you are consuming and
• follow good food combining rules.

Benefits

As I mentioned it is rich in fiber, regular consumption can help in digestive issues or in relieving constipation. (I would not recommend it having daily as it has a high content of saturated fats, but few times a week should be good.)

It can also help improve the balance of gut microbiome, which in turn helps boost our immune system, hormonal health and mental health.

Regular consumption of coconut milk is also likely to help with weight loss, diabetes and heart health. If you wish to read more on this, you must check this study.

How to Include Coconut Milk in Your diet

RAW

1. One of the most efficient ways to include more coconut milk in your diet is having it raw. You can have it either as a milk shake or a smoothie. You can also just drink it straight.
2. Raw coconut milk is also a great addition to granolas or to make overnight rolled oats.
3. You can make some interesting vegan desserts with coconut milk. Depending on the recipe, you can use it raw or cooked.
4. Coconut milk also makes a delicious addition to raw cold soups.

COOKED

Here are a few options of using it in various cooked recipes.

1. My favorite way is to use it in soups. Just when you done cooking the soup, turn off the heat and add in the coconut milk!
2. Curries: various Indian and thai curry recipes make perfect use of coconut milk.
3. Desserts: a number of Indian desserts like kheer, phirni, halwa etc. can be veganized using coconut milk.
4. Ice-creams: you can make endless ice-cream flavours while using coconut milk. Use dates as a sweetener to make it super healthy.

How to Make Coconut Milk?

You can make coconut milk 2 different ways. Either using a blender or in a cold pressed juicer.

If you are using cold pressed juicer, you will get less milk from the same amount of coconut as compared to the one made in blender. However, the texture and nutrient value will be much better if made in the slow juicer as it works at lower speed and temperature as compared to one in blender.

I have done a video to compare how to make milks using both these methods that you can watch OR you can skip and read the recipes below.

Coconut Milk Recipe using a Blender

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Sieving 5 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Course Side Dish

Equipment

• Blender
• Cheese cloth/muslin cloth/nut milk bag

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 Mature Coconut brown coconut, wet NOT the dry one. This will be approx. 1 cup coconut when loosely packed in pieces size of about 1 cm x 1 cm
• 2.5 cup Water you can use 3-4 cups water, based on how thick or thin you like it. Luke warm water will give better result.

Instructions

 

• Remove the outer husk/shell of the coconut. No need to peel the inner brown skin
• Roughly chop into cubes of approximately 1cm x 1cm. You can also grate it.
• Add these to the blender with 1 cup of water and blend to form a smooth paste.
• Add another 1/2 cup of water and blend again.
• Strain this through a nut milk bag/muslin cloth. This is your first batch of coconut milk.
• Now you will have the remaining coconut pulp in the nut milk bag.
• Put this pulp back in the blender and blend again with half cup water and repeat step 5. This will be batch 2

Notes

1. Sometimes I use the pulp from batch 1 in other recipes, in this case, I do not make milk from batch 2 as it helps to have some milk left in the pulp.
2. If you do not want to use the pulp elsewhere, it is a good idea to make milk 2nd time. However, this milk will be a lot thinner.
3. I prefer to keep batch 1 for recipes that require thick milk and keep batch 2 for recipes that require thinner consistency.
4. This will make approximately 1.5 cups of thick coconut milk in batch one and about 1 cup thin coconut milk in batch 2.

Keyword coconut milk, milk shake, vegan smoothie

Things to Remember

1. To make milk, you will need the mature coconut with its husk (brown hair) and some liquid inside.
2. Shake it to make sure its not dry inside.
3. Lighter the color of the husk, fresh the coconuts will be.

Time saving tip: Once you remove the husk from coconut (some vegetable vendors are happy to do it for you, just ask), you can keep it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. This contracts the coconut inside, making it a lot easier to remove from its shell. Once removed from the shell, there is no need to peel the inner brown skin.

Coconut Milk Recipe using a Cold Press Juicer

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Course Appetizer, Dessert, Snack

Servings 2 people

Equipment

• Cold press juicer/slow juicer

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 mature Coconut brown coconut, wet NOT the dry one.
• 2 cup water

Instructions

 

• Remove the outer husk/shell of the coconut. No need to peel the inner brown skin
• Cut it into thin long slices so the pieces do not get stuck in the juicer (as shown in the video above).
• Add the coconut slices to a bowl with 2 cups water.
• Now start adding this to the juicer. Make sure to add the coconut slices and water simultaneously to the juicer (as shown in the video above).
• Coconut milk is ready, no need to sieve it.

Notes

When making milk in the blender, you can not add the pulp back in the juicer for second batch of the milk.

Feel free to use the pulp as a scrub or in other recipes.

Keyword coconut milk, healthy drinks, smoothie