37 recipes that use desiccated coconut, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Weetabix barfi, takes 20 minutes. It is most often cooked with butter, milk and sugar.
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A colourful mix of baby aubergine, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, beans and carrots simmered in a ground onion, coconut and whole-spice paste loosened with coconut cream and yogurt. The vegetables go in stages so each one stays tender, not soft, and roasted cashews add crunch at the end. Serve hot with naan.
Big, crunchy cookies made with jumbo porridge oats and desiccated coconut, then rolled in more oats and coconut before baking. Wholesome and filling, perfect for lunchboxes.
Soft golden butter cookies, brushed with warm plum jam after baking and dipped in desiccated coconut. Bright, simple and loved by children.
Buttery cookies with chopped pistachios, crushed rice bubbles, coconut and a hint of chocolate, each topped with more pistachio. Crunchy outside and tender inside.
Crunchy, wholesome biscuits made with crushed Weetabix (wheat biscuit cereal), coconut and mixed nuts, rich with fresh cream and rolled in more cereal and pistachio. If the dough is too firm, add 1–2 tbsp milk.
Chewy brown-sugar cookies loaded with roasted macadamia nuts, white chocolate chunks, oats and coconut. A bakery favourite that is easy to make at home.
Hearty wholemeal cookies with rolled oats, mixed nuts and coconut. Pressed with a fork and baked until brown, they are a wholesome tea-time biscuit.
A chocolate pastry base topped with a chewy brown-sugar, coconut and mixed nut layer, then drizzled with dark chocolate and cut into squares. Rich and satisfying with a cup of coffee.
A big batch of crunchy cookies with rolled oats, coconut, chopped almonds and chunks of cooking chocolate. For a change, use cashew nuts instead of almonds.
A big batch of party biscuits: a buttery dough with mixed nuts, chocolate pieces, cherries and coconut, bound with coco-pine juice (mixed coconut and pineapple juice). The dough is shaped into rolls, chilled and sliced thin, so you can bake as many as you need. Leftover coconut milk can be frozen in ice-cube trays and used whenever required.
Rich, crunchy biscuits made with equal weights of flour, sugar, butter, cashews and desiccated coconut. Simple to make and very more-ish with tea or coffee.
Melt-in-the-mouth biscuits made with semolina and coconut, each pressed into a mix of shredded pistachio and almond. Similar to nankhatai, and very easy: everything goes into one bowl.
A chewy, buttery flapjack of oats and coconut with a layer of chopped dried apricots in the middle. Press it firmly so the slices hold together, and leave them to cool in the tray before lifting out.
Crunchy muesli bars of oats, oat bran, coconut and roasted peanuts, held together with honey and crunchy peanut butter. A healthier snack for school or work.
A quick baked oat bar with coconut and a touch of cocoa and golden syrup, pressed thin and cut while warm. Crisp, buttery and very easy.
No-bake squares of crushed cornflakes, rice crisps and coconut held together with peanut butter and golden-syrup toffee. Quick to make and great for parties.
A cinnamon and lemon honey shortbread base, spread with a lemony condensed-milk coconut filling and topped with grated frozen dough and cinnamon sugar. Crisp on top, soft and tangy in the middle.
The book's basic eggless sponge, made with condensed milk and melted butter in one bowl. Sandwich it with jam and top with coconut, ice it any way you like, or use it for the Pinacolada cake. For a coconut cake, add 100 g desiccated coconut to the mixture.
A moist eggless cake made with semolina, coconut and yogurt, baked with slivered almonds on the bottom and top and moistened with orange juice. Serve with coconut ice cream or custard sauce.
Kesaria ghari are pretty fluted sweets: a soft coating of paneer and mawa (khoya) cooked with sugar and milk wraps a golden filling of coconut and milk powder in saffron syrup. They're milky, delicate and fragrant with cardamom. Press them in a patterned mould and decorate with flaked nuts; the recipe makes 14.
A crunchy no-bake chocolate slice: crushed rich tea biscuits, cornflakes, rice krispies and shredded wheat, nuts and coconut are bound with cocoa, margarine and golden syrup, then covered with melted chocolate. It's sweet, crisp and chocolatey, like a homemade cereal bar. Makes about 50 fingers, ideal for parties and lunch boxes.
A quick, rich sweet of dates melted down in butter, then mixed with milk chocolate, chopped nuts, coconut and rice krispies and pressed into a tray. It's chewy, chocolatey and crisp. Makes about 30 diamonds; keep them in the fridge and serve cold.
Katlo pak is a traditional Gujarati winter sweet, eaten for strength and warmth: wheat flour and oats roasted in ghee with fried edible gum, coconut, nuts and a warming blend of katlo, dill, aniseed, fenugreek, ginger and spices, set with a dark jaggery 'pie'. It's crumbly, rich and spicy-sweet. Makes about 50 pieces; eat one a day in the cold months.
Coconut pinwheels are a pretty no-cook sweet: a soft dough of desiccated coconut, milk powder and icing sugar is split, half coloured, rolled together into a swirl and sliced. They're sweet, coconutty and great fun for children to help make. Makes about 60 slices, perfect for party platters.
Marble squares are a soft barfi of roasted mawa (khoya), toasted thin vermicelli, coconut and crushed nuts, sweetened with castor sugar and flavoured with cardamom and saffron. They're chewy, nutty and fragrant. Makes about 35 squares; serve them at festivals or with tea.
Kesar mani is a rich, crumbly Gujarati sweet of gram flour roasted in ghee with popped edible gum, then mixed with milk powder, coconut, ground nuts, cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. It's nutty, fragrant and warming, a favourite in the winter months. Makes 25–30 pieces.
Mulayum pak is a soft, rich Gujarati sweet of gram flour rubbed with ghee and milk (dhraba), roasted golden with puffed edible gum (gund) and plenty of nuts, then set with a saffron milk syrup. It's fragrant with cardamom, nutmeg and mace and melts in the mouth. Makes about 42 squares; serve at Diwali or keep in a tin for guests.
A royal festive sweet: rounds of crisp pastry wrapped around a rich filling of mawa (khoya), roasted coconut, almonds and pistachios, fried in ghee and dipped in a warm mix of ghee and icing sugar. Decorated with nuts and rose petals, they're crumbly, rich and fragrant with cardamom. Makes 50.
A modern layered barfi: a chewy base of dates, coconut, cornflakes, chocolate cereal and pistachio, a creamy top of condensed milk, cashews and almonds, and a marbled dark and white chocolate finish. It's rich, crunchy and silky all at once. Makes 35–40 rectangles; great for parties and gift boxes.
A striking three-layer barfi: a white layer of milk powder and coconut, a middle of melted chocolate, and a yellow layer of saffron cashew fudge on top. Cut into diamonds, it shows off its stripes and tastes rich, nutty and creamy. Makes 30–35; a showpiece for festive sweet boxes.
A quick no-cook barfi made from crushed wheat biscuit cereal and tea biscuits bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, with coconut, nuts, nutmeg and saffron. It's chewy, sweet and easy enough for children to help with. Makes 40 pieces.
A quick baked pudding of apples softened with condensed milk and cinnamon, layered over a buttery ginger-biscuit, nut and coconut base and topped with brown sugar. It's sweet, warmly spiced and crunchy underneath. Serve it warm on its own or with ice cream.
Crisp, sweet coconut pastry cases baked in boat or muffin moulds, then filled with sweetened whipped cream and topped with fresh fruit such as kiwi, mango and grapes. The cases keep for days in a tin, so you only need to fill them before serving. The recipe makes about 30 small tarts.
A soft, moist baked sweet in the style of basbousa: desiccated coconut, semolina and flour are mixed with melted butter, milk and vanilla, baked until golden, cut into diamonds and soaked in cold lemon syrup. Each piece is topped with an almond. Sweet, buttery and fragrant with coconut; serve at room temperature with tea or coffee.
Soft dates cooked briefly in butter with cardamom, shaped around a fried almond and rolled in desiccated coconut. A simple no-bake sweet that is rich, chewy and naturally sweet, perfect for festive trays and with coffee. Makes about 40.
A soft, moist low-calorie slice made without flour, eggs or refined sugar: ripe bananas are blended with sunflower oil, vanilla and cardamom, then cashews, desiccated coconut, oats and grated apple. Baked and cut into wedges, it is naturally sweet and good with tea or in a lunch box.
Crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth nankhatai made for fasting days with cassava flour and powdered cashews instead of wheat flour, rich with ghee and coconut and scented with cardamom. Each one is topped with half a cherry. They bake only until barely coloured. Makes 45 small biscuits (about 3 per serving).
