Taste of the Tropics–Coconut

I am so excited to guest host my first blog event. I would like thank Mireille for this great oppurtunity. For the month of September, I am guest hosting Chef Mireille’s Taste of the Tropics with the theme of Coconut.

Coconuts are synonymous with tropical places and are featured in the cuisines of many countries in both savory and sweet dishes from coconut milk curries to coconut
sweet breads. For a detailed list of coconut’s health benefits, see here.

The Rules
1 – Post any Vegetarian eggless recipe that includes coconut. Freshly grated
coconut, dessicated coconut, coconut milk or coconut water must be used. Archived recipes may be submitted if they are reposted with the linkback and the logo.
2 - Recipe should be posted between September 1st and September 30th, 2012.
3 - The post must include a linkback to this announcement page and Chef Mireille’s
page here. Usage of the logo is mandatory.
4 - After your recipe is posted, add it using the Linky Tool below. If you have issues linking up, you could send it via email to nivedhanams@gmail.com. Non-bloggers can also send their recipes via email. Please use the subject as “Taste of the Tropics – Coconut”.



Looking forward for all your great recipes!!!

 

Eggless Lemon Coconut Bread

Quick Breads are fun to make and very rewarding. This is one of those quick breads which screams of lemon flavor. If you like lemon flavor, then you would love this and vice versa. For this month’s Eggless Baking Group, Gayathri chose this quick bread. I made a few changes from the original recipe like substituted flax seeds instead of egg, used regular grated coconut instead of the coconut flakes etc.  The original recipe does not have tutti frutti. I added it so that the filling can be seen better. It is optional.

Kitchen Basics–Vaazhaithandu

Vaazhaithandu (Banana Stem in English) is a very healthy and fiber rich food. But it comes with a few non co-operating things. Like the banana stem does not have a long shelf life, it becomes stained very quickly, it is very hard to chop, the knife, utensils, hands and linen may (will) discolor if it comes in contact with this.
Some solutions that work for me for the above are:
1. For better shelf life – store the banana stem wrapped in newspaper inside a plastic cover in the fridge. Also make sure you buy fresh banana stem. This will increase the shelf life little.
2. For discoloring after it is cut – store the chopped pieces in mor (2 table spoons curd + 1 cup water)

3. For staining – grease the palm, knife, cutting board with oil. Avoid contact of the linen with the banana stem
4. For ease of cutting – cut them into small rounds and remove extra threads like fiber with one hand as you go


Sending this to Tell Your Kitchen Secret by Gayathri.