Homemade coconut flour and coconut milk!

I've been really frustrated recently because I constantly browse through so many lovely Paleo, gluten free, grain free recipes that use COCONUT FLOUR, but for some reason, I haven't been able to find any in Mauritius.
So, I decided to make my own! A lot of the instructions I found online take about 4-5 hours to get to the final product (apparently if you just blend up the desiccated coconut directly, you end up with coconut butter), but playing around with the steps I managed to make mine in about 2 hours (45 minutes-1 hour for the desiccated coconut  to ferment) and make some delicious coconut milk along the way!! It is a very time  consuming job, but if you make a big batch of it and want to try some delicious Paleo or gluten free recipes, it is definitely worth making! :)

HOMEMADE COCONUT FLOUR (& MILK!)
I used 2 cups of coconut to 4 cups of water. This made just over 1 cup of coconut flour, and quite a bit of coconut milk- which is sooo yummy chilled, or mixed into smoothies! You can also freeze the milk in little bags, ready for your Thai curries, if you prefer a thicker milk, use less water.

• A good blender
• Muslin cloth
• A sieve
• Desiccated coconut (not sweetened, just the basic stuff, I get "rocket" brand)
• Water
• Patience!

1. In a large bowl or jug, cover 2 cups of desiccated coconut with 4 cups of boiling water. Leave this to sit for about an hour.
2. I used a hand blender for this, blend the mix for a couple of minutes until well mixed (It will still be grainy, don't expect a smooth liquid).
3. Place the muslin cloth over the sieve and place on top of a bowl. Pour through your liquid from step 2.
4. Once all the visible liquid has gone through to the receiving bowl, form a tight ball with the residue in the muslin cloth and squeeze tightly to get ride of any excess water. All this liquid is your coconut milk :), chill it and voila, you have a very refreshing drink!
5. Now, the residue needs to be dried to then be blender into coconut flour. Many recipes use an oven at low temperatures, but I used a heavy based saucepan on a VERY LOW heat, and dried out this mix for about 30 minutes stirring around constantly (do not let it get brown).
6. Only one more step now! Once the dried up powder cools, blend it up for about 5 minutes until it turns into a lovely fine powder.

I hope the steps don't put you off! Have fun, 

Xx

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