how to use dry coconut for everyday meals | sprouts salad recipe with dry coconut

Using fresh coconut and coconut oil everyday has not been part of my growing up. We had loads of coconut during festivals because it was part of the Puja rituals and fresh coconut cake home for the chutneys when we made idli and dosa. Coconut oil was used only for skin and hair and we never imagined eating food cooked in coconut oil at home even though we loved the food cooked by our Kerala and Tamil friends. I became more adventurous in using ingredients once I started my own kitchen and there was no looking back, thankfully.

But dry coconut or kopra was used in my parental home more frequently. There was always some dry coconut in the pantry which was added to desserts like halwa, kheer and to panjeeris, laddus, malpuas and even dry namkeen mixtures.

I realised dry coconut is a much more convenient ingredient to use because fresh coconut looses its freshness within a couple of days and we don’t consume more than one coconut per week between the two of us. To be honest I used to freeze the fresh coconut but I would always forget about it and get a new one every time I needed coconut. 

Then I started getting the dry coconut grated and stored in an airtight container and use it wherever required. It became a life saver and a regular ingredient in my kitchen I must add.

Sprouts salad with dry grated coconut 

Ingredients 

(3 large servings) 

1 cup mixed lentil sprouts (I used a mix of mung, moth and masoor sprouts mostly) 

¼ cup peanut sprouts or 2 heaped tbsp of roasted crushed peanuts 

2 tbsp of dry grated coconut 

1 cup grated carrots 

¼ cup chopped red onions 

1 tsp chopped green chilies 

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 tsp mustard or sesame oil 

1 tsp lime juice 

Preparation 

Toss everything together to mix well. 

Let the salad rest for an hour before consumption, the dry coconut shreds plump up after the soaking time and get really fresh and nice. I make it for lunch box of the husband and my own lunch so it works well. If you are making the salad for immediate consumption you can soak the dry coconut shreds in a mix of water and lime juice for a while and then mix the rest of the ingredients at the time of serving.

For the lunch box I don’t add salt in the salad as it may get soggy by lunch time. Do take care of this when making this salad for lunch box. Without adding salt and onions this salad stays good for 2 days in the fridge so great for advance planning.

This salad makes a great filler for tart shells or golgappa shells if you are planning to serve it for a get together. Or just place a huge bowl of this salad in the middle of a table with many spoons and see how it vanishes fast. 

I will keep posting more uses of shredded or grated dry coconut as it gives way to many kitchen hacks that you may find useful too. 

Why not use a healthy ingredient regularly and make it convenient too for ourselves? Dry coconut grated this way will come handy almost everyday.