Coconut flour: This gluten-free, protein-rich dish is taking the culinary world by storm

Its massive success rate is probably what has made the keto diet so popular worldwide and now, a new recipe made from the most versatile of ingredients, is taking weight-watchers and the culinary world by storm — coconut flour. Made by extracting milk and excess water from the meat of a coconut, the remainder is dried and ground finely to form flour.

Though it remains one of the most debated produce ever, research and Ayurveda experts in the country lean towards coconut not causing cholesterol to shoot up despite containing 90 percent saturated fat — countries with the highest intakes of coconut oil have the lowest rates of heart disease, say studies. So this new gluten-free, grain-free and keto-friendly coconut flour could just be the best thing that’s happened in a long time. 

Cooking with it can be tricky and trying to obtain the readymade powder from a store might be expensive so here’s a recipe you can try out art home, for you to incorporate it in your diet.

1 Start by draining a ripe coconut of the water inside and then break it open by using a hammer or a hand drill.

2 Use a kitchen knife to cut the tender coconut or coconut meat out from the hard outer covering. Peel the skin off of the coconut meat using a regular vegetable peeler.

3 Chop the coconut meat into smaller pieces and throw them into the food processor. Add four cups or one litre of water to the processor and blend on high speed.

4 Make sure that the water and the coconut meat are evenly blended together to give a thick and smooth paste-like consistency and then stop blending. Allow the paste to sit for some time.

5 Take a cheesecloth and place it on a large bowl and pour the coconut milk over it. This will result in the residue getting collected over the bag.

6 Transfer the residue onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and spread it out evenly onto the tray.

7 Pre-heat your microwave to 77 degrees Celsius and then bake the coconut residue for about 45 minutes to dehydrate it completely.

8 Scrape the dehydrated pulp off of the parchment paper and transfer it to a dry food processor and then blend it on high for one or two minutes.

The fine powder that you get at the end of this process is coconut flour, which can be used in baking breads, brownies, cakes, etc. So, if you were looking to replace your regular flours with a gluten-free one, coconut flour can be your pick.