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Add richness to dal and dessert with coconut milk
Summary
When it comes to coconut milk, here are ways to make it at home, find substitutes and make an informed choice to buy better brandsGrowing up I thought coconut milk was a beauty ingredient. Every Sunday, my youngest aunt would patiently extract milk from a grated coconut using a muslin cloth and apply it on her scalp as a home remedy to prevent hair loss and to ensure lustrous long locks of hair.
While fresh coconut was used as a garnish in most dry subzis (poriyal) or to grind the masala for kootu (dal-vegetable dish) or avial, coconut milk was not used in my grandmother’s kitchen. Even in the Kerala-inspired olan (ash gourd and black-eyed peas curry), she would prefer to add some ground coconut and regular milk. It was possibly to avoid the extra work of grating a coconut and extracting coconut milk.
Much later, I happened to taste payasam made with coconut milk instead of regular dairy milk and the flavour blew my mind. Coconut milk has a depth of flavour that regular milk cannot match. This is because of the presence of natural oils and fats in coconut, sugars, aromatic compounds such as lactones and the rich mouthfeel of the milk itself that makes it taste more indulgent. Coconut milk is the easiest way to make your desserts taste richer.
Coconut milk lends this richness to savoury curries too. However, some restaurants serving Thai curries (red, green or yellow) get it all wrong by thickening the curry too much (by using corn starch) and adding sugar (blasphemy!). This completely overwhelms the delicate and natural sweetness of coconut milk.
When you are looking to buy coconut milk, you’ll see over a dozen brands online. So how does one pick the right one? In Thai cooking, coconut milk is a key ingredient and the kind of coconut milk you choose makes or breaks the recipe. I remember bookmarking this piece of information from the blog Hot Thai Kitchen in which the author Palin Chongchitnant advocates choosing the brand of coconut milk with the highest fat content as more fat means more flavour. Also, when it comes to choosing between a Tetra Pak and can, go with the former as it is heat-treated for a shorter time compared to the cans, retaining more flavour.
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When choosing a brand of coconut milk, read the nutritional label to ensure minimum ingredients. Most brands list coconut extract, water and guar gum, which is a thickener and stabiliser made from gavar or cluster beans and is used extensively in food processing. It adds thickness to the coconut milk and prevents the fat and water from separating out.
Packaged coconut milk is usually only the first press, thereby thicker. When we make coconut milk at home, we usually blend the shredded coconut a second and sometimes, a third time to get the maximum out of one coconut. While making dishes like stews, it is a known practice to cook the vegetables in the thin milk of the second and third press and then finish it with the thick coconut milk and the heat turned off after a gentle simmer. This preserves the flavour and prevents the coconut milk from splitting.
When I run out of coconut milk packs or the patience to make my own, I use coconut milk powder. Though the flavour and texture doesn’t come close to using the actual milk, it has the advantage of a long shelf life and the convenience of not opening a whole pack for a small quantity. Like Thai and Kerala food, Sri Lankan cuisine also worships coconut milk. Here are two recipes from Sri Lanka for you to try this weekend.
Sri Lankan Coconut Dal
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 cup masoor dal
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Half tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 pandan leaf (optional)
100ml coconut milk
For the tempering
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
Half tsp black mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
1 small onion, sliced
1 dried red chilli
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Ingredients
Soak the masoor dal for an hour. Drain and add to a pot with two to two-and-a-half cups of water, along with sliced onion, garlic, turmeric, salt and pandan leaf cut into 2-3 pieces. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the dal is cooked. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add some water if the dal is too thick. While the dal is cooking, prepare the tempering. In a small pan, heat the coconut oil. Add the mustard seeds and fry until they splutter. Lower the flame and saute the onion, red chilli and garlic until the onion turns light brown. Transfer the tempering over the dal. Serve hot with rice and some vegetable dishes on the side.
Sri Lankan vegetable curry
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 cups chopped vegetables (potato, zucchini, pumpkin, carrot)
2 tbsp coconut oil
Half tsp black mustard seeds
2 green cardamoms
1 stick cinnamon (one inch)
1-2 green chillies
1 sprig curry leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Half tsp turmeric
300ml coconut milk
1 tsp salt
Method
Steam the vegetables or parboil them. Softer vegetables like zucchini can be cooked directly in the curry to retain their bite. In a large pot, heat the coconut oil. Add the whole spices and fry for a few seconds until aromatic and the seeds splutter. Stir in the chillies, curry leaves, onion and garlic. Saute on a low flame until the onions have softened. Add the veggies, turmeric, coconut milk and salt and simmer on a low flame for 5-6 minutes. Serve hot with rice.
Try this curry with ripe mango chunks instead of veggies for an interesting twist. Mango doesn’t need to be cooked, so a couple of minutes of simmering in coconut milk is enough.
Double Tested is a fortnightly column on vegetarian cooking, highlighting a single ingredient prepared two ways. Nandita Iyer’s latest book is The Great Indian Thali—Seasonal Vegetarian Wholesomeness (Roli Books). She posts @saffrontrail on X and Instagram.
