Creamy Coconut Yoghurt
An easy, step-by-step guide to making creamy, dairy-free, probiotic rich coconut yoghurt!
Some amazing health benefits of coconuts (and making your coconut yoghurt from scratch!)
1. Coconut meat & water is a complete food is rich in calories, vitamins, and minerals.
2. Coconut is rich in fats & protein.
3. Coconut is an excellent source of minerals such as copper, calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc!
4. It is also a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, and pyridoxine.
5. Coconut meat and water contain a very good amount of potassium. 100 g of fresh meat contains 356 mg.
Making Coconut Yoghurt:
Ingredients:
1. Young coconut meat - I used 4 coconuts however this yielded quite a bit of coconut yoghurt! If it's your first time trying coconut yoghurt or you don't want to eat that much, maybe try 2 coconuts.
2. Dairy free probiotic powder - you can buy this from your local chemist. Use about 1/2 tsp per cup of coconut meat. I used about 3 tsp altogether in my coconut yoghurt.
3. Coconut nectar - not essential but good for adding some sweetness to the yoghurt to counter the bitterness.
4. Pure vanilla extract - for flavour!
5. Splash of coconut water, from the coconuts
Method:
1. Open your coconuts (still perfecting my method of doing this), empty the water (but save it and drink it!) and scoop out the coconut meat.
2. Blend the meat in a thermomix or high speed processor with the probiotic powder and a little coconut water (for consistency).
3. When it is creamy, if using a thermomix you can put it up to 37 degrees and churn it for a few more minutes to get the culturing started, but this is not essential.
4. Transfer to a bowl, cover with glad wrap, and if you have a dehydrater pop it in there! (I don't have one big enough, so I didn't) otherwise any warm, dark place will do.
5. Let it culture for about 6 hours, a bit longer if it's not warm. I noticed the glad wrap was sweating a bit when I went back to look at my yoghurt.
6. Re-blend the yoghurt a little vanilla and coconut nectar to taste - taste it so you make it to your preference. You want it sweet enough to take away from the bitterness, but you still want that probiotic 'tang'!
7. Transfer to a jar or container and store in the fridge. It will last 5-7 days in the fridge.