Dive into the coco cosmos
HYDERABAD: Coconut and Mango pie
Ingredients
Crust:
185 gm digestive cookie crumbs | 65 gm shredded coconut | 45 gm icing sugar | 90 gm melted butter | 1 egg | Few drops of vanilla essence Filling: | 30 gm shredded coconut | 4 eggs | A tin of condensed milk | 100 gm mango puree | 10 ml fresh lime juice | 100 gm castor sugar | A pinch of salt | 10 gm vanilla essence
Method
- First, make the pie base by mixing all the pie crust ingredients together in a 9-inch pie mould and line up. Bake for 20 min at 180 degree Celsius.
- Beat the egg yolks in a bowl on medium speed until thick and light in colour, for four minutes. Beat in sweetened condensed milk for two more minutes more. Stir in mango puree and lime juice. Pour mixture into crust.
- Bake until just set in center when gently shaken, about 30 minutes. Cool pie completely and chill at least two hours.
- To make the topping, beat together egg whites, white sugar, and salt in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. When sugar dissolves and mixture is hot to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes, remove from heat. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Pipe onto chilled pie with the help of star nozzle.
– Balvinder Lubana, executive chef, Marriott, Hyderabad
Tub Tim Grob
(Diced water chestnut with sweetened coconut milk)
Ingredients
200 gm preserved water chestnut | 200 ml thick rose syrup | 150 gm tapioca starch | 500 ml coconut milk | 100 gm grain sugar | 1 pandan leaf tied into a knot | 1 tender coconut shell
Method
- Cut the water chestnut into small dices and soak it in rose syrup for about 3-4 hours
- Take the coconut milk in a sauce pan with the sugar and pandan leaves, heat it till the sugar dissolves (do not over boil it). (You can skip the leaves if not available)
- Pour into a container and let it cool. Refrigerate it after cooling.
- Drain the water chestnut and dust it with the tapioca starch. The chestnut should be evenly coated with the starch. Let it stand for around 10 minutes.
- Boil some water in a pan and slowly drop the water chestnut into the boiling water. Boil for a while till the water chestnut rises to the surface.
- Drain it into a sieve and rinse through cold running water. Immediately chill it in an ice water.
- For serving, drain the water chestnut and place it in a martini glass or a chilled coconut shell, pour over the chilled coconut milk. Serve with some crushed ice on top.
Coco kheer
Ingredients
100 gm grated coconut | 10 gm clarified butter | 300 ml full fat milk | 100 gm pedha mava or khoya | 5 strings of saffron | 30 gm sugar | 20 gm icing sugar | 1 or 2 pieces of chopped, ripe banana | 20 gm salted butter | 20 ml fresh cream | 4 gm roasted pistachio flakes roasted
Method:
- In a heavy bottom pan, add clarified butter. Once tempered, add grated coconut and cook till slight brown in colour
- Add 10 gm ofsugar, milk and saffron and reduce till it converts to a dough consistency. Let to chill and the make 3 cm balls of same.
- Make a smooth dough of mava and icing sugar
- Roll small bits of mava dough and stuff with a coconut ball. Make five balls and keep aside
- On a cooking pan, melt rest of the sugar and once melted, add butter and fresh cream and add banana
- O a serving plate, spread the mix. Top it up with coco mava balls. Sprinkle pistachio flakes and enjoy!
— Vikash Vumudi, head chef, Voila, Hyderabad
Tom Kha Kai
(Coconut milk soup with Thai herbs chicken)
Ingredients:
120 gm chicken thigh boneless diced | 80 gm lemongrass | 80 gm galangal (Siamese ginger) | 4 kafir lime leaves | 400 ml coconut milk | 40 gm sugar | 30gm bird eye chilli | 80 gm button mushroom | 30 gm diced tomato | 30 gm diced onion | 400 ml chicken stock | 30 gm chopped coriander | 15 gm roast curry paste | 60 ml fish sauce | 50 ml lemon juice
Method
- Take a sauce pan and heat the chicken stock
- Add the chicken, lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, bird eye chillies, mushroom, onion, tomato, and roast curry paste, bring it to boil
- Now, add the coconut milk, mix it all well
- Add the fish sauce and sugar, finish it with lemon juice and chopped coriander.
- Garnish with coriander sprig and a drop of chilli oil
- Just add diced assorted vegetables for vegetarian version and prawns for the soup with prawns, similarly veg stock can be used for vegetarian version and fish sauce can be avoided.
— Chef Akshay Kumar, Executive Chef, Vivanta Begumpet
Lamington with coconut rabdi
Ingredients
| 4 egg yolks | 120 gm icing sugar | 180 gm flour |4 egg whitex |60 gm astor sugar |125 gm raspberry jam |120 gm cream |100 gm chocolate |120 gm coconut flakes |1 litre milk |150 gm sugar |100 gm grated coconut |2-3 cardamoms
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Grease a baking tray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Sift the flour, icing sugar together and set aside. Using a hand mixer, beat egg white and castor sugar until soft peak stage.
- Fold in the dry ingredients and add the egg yolk on it, mixing constantly with spatula. Transfer the batter to prepared tray. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until the toothpick inserted into this cake comes out very clean. Allow it to cool.
- Melt the chocolate. In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate and warm cream, mix them well to create a frosting.
- Cut the sponge cake into three pieces. Spread the bottom with raspberry jam and place the next sponge repeat the process with one more layer.
- Pour out the coconut flakes into a small shallow bowl. Use a fork, and dip lamington into this chocolate frosting, coating all the sides and roll them in the coconut flakes, place onto rack to dry.
- Heat the milk and sugar in a heavy bottom pan. After it comes to a boil, lower the flame and let it cook. Once the quantity of milk reduces to ¾ add the grated coconut and cardamom. Take it off the flame.
— Chef Kailash Gundupalli, culinary director, NHCC Hyderabad