Collection of 40 coconut recipes – This collection list has Indian recipes that have coconut as its main ingredient. It also includes a few recipes that has coconut as one of its ingredient.
Coconut is used in many recipes be it curry or stir fry or lentils. Generally fresh coconut is used. But if you don’t have fresh coconut then you can also substitute it with desiccated coconut. In some recipes coconut milk is added. Coconut milk can be made at home or purchased from outside. In this collection there are some recipes where coconut milk is added. I have shared earlier the method to make homemade Coconut Milk.
I have also included sweets recipes made with both fresh coconut and desiccated coconut. some of the recipes are quick to prepare and can be made in less than 15 to 20 minutes.
Both fresh coconut and desiccated coconut can be substituted for each other in most recipes.
If using fresh coconut for any sweet in place of desiccated coconut, then you can roast the coconut in a bit of ghee or oil, till the moisture dries. If using desiccated coconut, then for some recipes, you can soak the desiccated coconut in some warm milk or water, till they get some moisture. As I add more coconut based recipes, I will update this collection too.
Coconut Recipes
1. Coconut rice – light, tasty and mild South Indian coconut rice recipe made with fresh grated coconut. This coconut rice recipe is also known as thengai sadam.
2. Coconut chutney – this chutney is our favorite accompaniment to go with South Indian tiffin breakfast like dosa and idlis.
Here I share two simple recipes – a classic coconut chutney recipe with spice tempering, as well as a quick, hotel-style recipe that skips tempering.
3. Coconut milk rice – fragrant, tasty and mild pulao made with mixed veggies and coconut milk. Best for those times, when you don’t really want to go intricate on cooking yet want to enjoy a deliciously wholesome meal.
4. Coconut milk rasam – this rasam variety is made with thick coconut milk, tamarind pulp, rasam powder and spices. There are many varieties of rasam made in the South Indian cuisine. Coconut milk rasam is one such delicious variety.
5. Coconut curd chutney – another variation of a delicious coconut chutney made with yogurt. Excellent with South Indian snacks like idli and dosa.
6. Brinji rice – vegetable brinji is a delicious one-pot dish made with spices, coconut milk, rice and mix veggies. The recipes comes from Tamil Nadu. Serve this dish with a raita of your choices like onion tomato raita or boondi raita or onion raita.
7. Vegetable stew – easy to make a lightly spiced, delicate and aromatic stew with mixed vegetables, coconut milk and spices. A popular stew from the Kerala cuisine and goes well with appams.
8. Carrot poriyal – a simple and easy to prepare recipe from the South Indian cuisine. No onion no garlic side dish made with carrots, spices and fresh coconut.
9. Veg kurma – delicious hotel style vegetable kurma recipe made with mixed veggies and desiccated coconut or fresh coconut.
10. Red coconut chutney – a bright red colored Kerala style chutney for idli, dosa and uttapams. This is quick to prepare chutney (if you have grated coconut already). The red chilies add some heat and smoky flavor to the chutney. Pearl onions also add their flavor and taste to the chutney.
11. Bhindi bhaji – this bhindi nariyal sabzi is a very simple recipe made with minimal ingredients. Fresh coconut brings a lot of flavor and taste to this dish.
12. Cabbage bhaji – a simple home style sauteed and steamed cabbage sabzi made with minimal ingredients. Coconut is added to the bhaji, which makes the overall dish have a faint sweet taste.
13. Poricha kuzhambu – poricha kuzhambu is a healthy and delicious mix veggie-based lentil gravy made with coconut+spice paste. The lentils used are tuvar dal (pigeon pea lentils). Though even moong lentils can be used.
14. Kara kuzhambu – spiced and tangy kara kuzhambu recipe. In this kuzhambu recipe tamarind as well coconut is added to the gravy. Its a simple gravy preparation made with mix veggies like brinjals, potatoes, carrots and drumsticks. To make this recipe, you can use a mix of veggies like okra, radish, beans, bottle gourd, cauliflower, pumpkin, yam or colocasia roots.
15. Tomato bhaji – easy and simple bhaji or sabzi made with tomatoes, jaggery, peanuts and desiccated coconut. Tangy as well as slightly sweet.
16. Beetroot sabzi – simple, homely and healthy beetroot bhaji recipe prepared in South Indian style. This beetroot bhaji has the sweetness of beetroots and fresh coconut along with some heat coming from the green chilies & dry red chilies. The spices added also contribute their own flavors.
17. Pumpkin bhaji – simple, easy and minimally spiced pumpkin sabzi with coconut. Makes for a good tiffin box lunch for kids. Since this pumpkin bhaji is minimally spiced, so this brings out the sweetness and flavors of pumpkin very well.
18. Olan recipe – olan is a delicious curry made with white pumpkin (ash gourd), cowpeas (red lobia or chawli) and coconut milk.
19. Parippu curry – a delicious moong dal curry made with coconut and spices. parippu curry is a comforting meal when served with rice. Accompany a side veggie thoran, a few pickle and papaddums by the side.
20. Kootu curry – koottukari is a thick curry based dish made with a few veggies and legumes. The veggies that are added are yam, ash gourd, carrots, snake gourd, pumpkin or plantains.
21. Pasi paruppu payasam – delicious creamy moong dal payasam made with yellow moong lentils, jaggery and coconut milk. I have kept the recipe simple and easy for everyone to follow.
22. Kadalai paruppu payasam – a delicious payasam variety made with coconut milk, chana dal, jaggery and cardamom powder. Serve the payasam hot or warm or chilled. Left over payasam can be refrigerated once it comes to room temperature.
23. Avial recipe – Avial is a traditional recipe of Kerala and an essential dish of sadya. I share a traditional method of making a flavorful avial with mixed vegetables, fresh coconut, curry leaves, coconut oil and curd (yogurt). Serve with steamed rice, sambar, pickle and some papadoms for a hearty and satisfying meal.
24. Pumpkin erisseri – a mild and tempered curry with light sweet tones made with pumpkin, cowpeas & coconut. A Kerala traditional dish served during onam sadya.
25. Pineapple payasam – South Indian payasam made with pineapple, coconut milk and jaggery. use pineapple which is sweet and not sour. I always use fresh pineapple for desserts that I make. You can also use canned, but the fresh taste and flavors go very well in a dessert.
Coconut Sweets Recipes
(coconut ladoo recipes – 5 varieties)
1. Nariyal ladoo – melt in the mouth delicious coconut ladoos made with desiccated coconut. just a three ingredient recipe and one which does not take a lot of time to make.
2. Coconut ladoo – three ingredient coconut ladoos made with fresh coconut, condensed milk and cardamom powder.
3. Narkel naru – these are delicious coconut ladoos from the Bengali cuisine. Narkel naru can be made with sugar or jaggery. This recipe of narkel naru is made with jaggery. For the jaggery you can use the jaggery made from sugarcane juice or palm jaggery.
(coconut barfi recipes – 3 varieties)
1. 7 cup burfi – easy and delicious South Indian sweet that can be made for any festive or religious occasion. 7 cup barfi includes 7 cups or 7 measures of ingredients namely – gram flour (besan), fresh coconut, ghee, milk and sugar. few more sweets which you can make with Besan are:
2. Khoya nariyal barfi – a delicious, soft barfi made from fresh coconut, khoya, milk, ghee, cardamom powder and sugar. A quick barfi recipe made in less than 30 minutes. few more sweets recipes which you can make with khoya are:
3. Coconut burfi (with unsweetened desiccated coconut) – this delicious coconut barfi made with sweetened condensed milk has a melt in the mouth soft texture. You can also make coconut ladoos with the same mixture.
Sweet Snacks with Coconut
1. Rava cake – This suji ka cake is a ridiculously easy recipe that even a beginner can make. Also called as semolina cake, this Eggless Cake Recipe is made with fine rava, condensed milk, coconut, milk and flavorings. This recipe comes from the Goan cuisine and is also called as Baath cake.
2. Coconut cookies – easy eggless coconut cookies made with whole wheat flour, jaggery and desiccated coconut. these coconut cookies are slightly chewy from outside with a soft texture from within. Few more tasty cookies recipes you can make are:
3. Karanji – a sweet-savory snack often made for festive occasions like Diwali and Ganesh Chaturthi. a well made karanji has an outer crisp & flaky cover. Its melt in the mouth with a sweet coconut based stuffing inside. Few more recipes which are made during festive occasions are:
4. Nevris recipe – deep fried pastries made with whole wheat flour and stuffed with grated coconut, jaggery and dry fruits. Nevri is the Goan version of the Maharashtrian karanji and the North Indian gujiya. both karanjis and Gujiya have different fillings and so the taste changes.
Modak varieties:
1. Modak – the traditional Maharashtrian recipe of modakm which is offered to lord ganesha on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi festival. ukadiche modak is one of the most popular modak variety made during Ganesh Chaturthi festival in maharashtra and goa.
2. Fried modak – a variation of modak where the modaks are fried rather than steamed. the outer covering of these fried modaks is made from whole wheat flour and hence it is a bit dense as compared to the ones made from all purpose flour (maida).
3. Sweet kozhukattai – South Indian recipe variation of modaks stuffed with a filling of chana dal, coconut and jaggery. the process and method to make these modaks or kozhukattai is the same as the regular modak. Only the stuffing is different.
4. Rava modak – modaks made with semolina (rava or sooji) and stuffed with coconut jaggery filling. this easy method of making modak which takes less time, but effort is there. Less time, since no steaming or frying is needed.
5. Dry fruits modak – This modak variety is made from rice flour and stuffed with mixture of mawa, poppy seeds, coconut and dry fruits.
This Coconut Recipes Collection post from the archives first published in May 2017 has been republished and updated on 24 June 2022.
Excellent collection.. happy Ganesh chaturthi to you and your loved ones.. take care..
Thanks Marina. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you and your family.