This is a blog post on how to make kerisik (grated roasted coconut paste) at home. Kerisik is an ingredient rather than a recipe itself use to enhance the flavors of Currys. In southeast Asia notably in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia it is possible to buy kerisik ready-made from supermarkets.
Just by roasting the grated coconut, changes the flavor of the coconut by giving it a more nutty flavor, and more oils are released as well. In this recipe, I use freshly grated coconut that I made myself at home. Here is an old post on how to grate coconut. It is possible to use desiccated coconut instead. That is commonly available in supermarkets easily in the sweet-making section.
How to make Kerisik – tips and tricks
I use an oven to roast the grated coconut but feel free to roast it in a pan as one can watch the grated coconut going brown and can control the heat easily. The main important issue about making Kerisik is not to let it go burn as it can burn quite easily. If baking the Kerisik in an oven spread it out in a thin layer and bake it at a low temperature like 160 degrees Celsius. Do use ovenproof and keep an eye on the oven at all times. It doesn’t take very long about 10 minutes at the most. It all depends on the amount of grated coconut being roasted.
Once roasted it should look brown like the picture above. Then grind it in a grinder-like pestle and mortar. Using some muscle power grind it till it releases some oil and tills it becomes like a paste. Then it is done.
Thank you for reading and dropping by. Do have a look at my other blog posts on recipes like making rendang and lamb shank curry.
