Coconut in cooking

if you mean coconut milk then you can get a lighter version.

Yes, since I've been on my mediterranean diet there's no Thai food for me!

I do love it though.

keepingquiet

I don't use it often but for me there is no replacement for full-fat coconut milk, if this is what OP means.

Otherwise I mostly make curries with a tomato based sauce and have a pot of plain yoghurt on the side to cool it down if I've overdone the chillies!

Same. It always goes in a Thai green curry, but we don’t have that very often.

Sorry..reduced

There's resuc fat coconut milk .

SueEH

I’m a big fan of dried coconut milk powder; just add a couple of spoonfuls at the end of cooking. It also helps to thicken. I bring it back from the Middle East but think I’ve seen it on sale here.

I use this also, it is a very economical way of using coconut milk/cream. I buy it on Amazon and it lasts for ages.

I would divide the amount of coconut required, to a quarter. Creamed coconut will be easy to divide with a knife.
Or use garam masala as a flavour instead of coconut.

I don't use it often but for me there is no replacement for full-fat coconut milk, if this is what OP means.

Otherwise I mostly make curries with a tomato based sauce and have a pot of plain yoghurt on the side to cool it down if I've overdone the chillies!

I always use a tin of chopped tomatoes

Substitute coconut milk with cashew cream. Makes 250ml. Soak 130grams of cashews in 200ml. Water for 30 minutes. Transfer the cashews and water to a blender with juice of one lemon., blend till smooth. Store in fridge for up to 1 week. The cream may thicken slightly when cold- simply thin it out with a little water if necessary. This recipe and many more is from my favourite cookbook ATM The Food for Life Cookbook by Tim Spector

I’m a big fan of dried coconut milk powder; just add a couple of spoonfuls at the end of cooking. It also helps to thicken. I bring it back from the Middle East but think I’ve seen it on sale here.

Another coconut hater here too, I suppose I just automatically avoid any recipes that use it.

I am not a fan of coconut but use coconut milk sparingly in some dishes. What I REALLY dislike is the smell of coconut in shampoo, face creams etc. oddly I’m not averse to it in plain chocolate.

The following products could be a substitute for the coconut milk:

Greek low fat Yogurt
Kefir - Turkish Yogurt
Almond Milk
Rice Milk

However, do note: The few calories that coconut milk has, one can walk off or exercise or count fat grams for a couple of weeks ..

The key is that coconut milk provides the curry with more depth, taste and richeness ..

It is not worth the lack of the coconut if you want an outstanding curry ..

I buy tins of reduced fat coconut milk in Waitrose. You could also replace the coconut milk with other milky bases and add a couple of tablespoons of dessicated coconut to get the coconutty taste.

CanadianGran

I just eliminate it, since I don't like the taste of coconut in savory food. I will also use a bit of plain yogurt for creaminess, but more often just go without.

It doesn't really taste the same as coconut flesh.

If you mean coconut milk, the low fat one is fine also if you want cut down even more, use half the amount and top it up with either some stock or plain water. Or Vita coco natural coconut water is fat free, I have seen that used in recipes for Slimming World.

I’m with those who say use the lower fat coconut milk.

I just eliminate it, since I don't like the taste of coconut in savory food. I will also use a bit of plain yogurt for creaminess, but more often just go without.

ayse

Also sell lower fat coconut milk sometimes

Yes.
Coconut milk is better in curries.

Also sell lower fat coconut milk sometimes

Just a thought, has anyone tried the vegan yoghurts which are coconut based not dairy. I was wondering if they would be a good alternative to Greek yogurt/ coconut milk.
Personally I like to use Greek yogurt in a curry but am always interested in trying an alternative especially if it's a healthier option.

Yogurt does not taste anything like coconut! It will also temper or remove the heat of the curry. Use coconut water instead and a little cornflour to thicken. In a curry the coconut is used for flavour, or use Sago’s suggestion.

I've used yogurt instead of sour cream in beef stroganoff and it sometimes curdles a little, other times not. It tastes the same.

if it is desiccated coconut, as I assume, just leave it out. Doing so will make little difference to the curry.

If it is coconut milk, then yoghurt or buttermilk can be used instead. The taste won't be affected by the slightly curdled look of the dish - a lot of curries that are made with milk of any kind do curdle slightly.