This is a recipe my old housemate taught me - her mother from East Timor (which separated from Indonesia in 2002) taught her how to make coconut oil which they used as a shampoo, moisturizer and for cooking. Before the coconut oil is prepared, the people of Timor believe that a prayer must be uttered over the shredded coconut so that enough oil can be produced to provide for the family.
I have used this coconut oil as a hair conditioner and as a toothpaste (mixed with equal amounts of baking soda.) It is also useful for healing purposes - use it on cuts and bruises to speed up the recovery process. The oil lasts for about four months.
Directions.
1) First of all choose how much coconut oil you want to make. 10 ground up coconuts will produce around 3 honey jars of oil.
2) Place the ground up coconut in a large bowl. Add in drinking water so that the shredded coconut is slightly saturated (TIP: don't use too much water or the milk will be too diluted.) Squeeze the water out of the shredded coconut with your hand and place the dry shredded coconut into a separate container to re-use. Do this until the bowl is full of coconut milk. Sieve the milk into a large wok.
3) Repeat this procedure again with the dry shredded coconut to produce another bowlful of milk. (TIP: Do not use the shredded coconut more than three times in order to produce milk. Two times should be sufficient.) There is an Indonesian trick with the milk (leave it overnight - the milk will collect at the surface and the water will drop to the bottom and the milk can be separated with a spoon into the wok - this process is to avoid having too much water in the milk - if there is lots of water then the process of producing oil takes much longer. However I have not tried this trick!)
4) Put the wok of milk on the stove with an adequate fire (if you use a small fire, this procedure will take a long time!) If you use a large fire, remember to stir regularly (all the time, preferably!!) so that the milk doesn't burn at the bottom. Use a wooden spoon. Make sure you stir in the lumpy bits that collect on the sides of the wok.
5) The water will slowly evaporate away (when you stir the milk you will no longer be able to see any water.) Without water, you must stir the milk non-stop - push the spoon up and down the wok and scrape the sides. Soon you will begin to see the oil appearing above the white/yellow paste beneath.
6) The white paste will begin to turn brown. Keep stirring but push the brown lumps with your spoon up onto the sides of the wok. When all of the white paste has turned dark brown, turn off the stove and leave the oil to cool.
7) Scrape the brown crumbs away from the oil. Sieve the oil into glass jars. It takes some effort but it's a great alternative to unsustainable palm oil. The brown crumbs can be eaten (TIP: try mixing the crumbs with sambal / chilli sauce to add a fresh, coconut taste.)
I have used this coconut oil as a hair conditioner and as a toothpaste (mixed with equal amounts of baking soda.) It is also useful for healing purposes - use it on cuts and bruises to speed up the recovery process. The oil lasts for about four months.
Directions.
1) First of all choose how much coconut oil you want to make. 10 ground up coconuts will produce around 3 honey jars of oil.
2) Place the ground up coconut in a large bowl. Add in drinking water so that the shredded coconut is slightly saturated (TIP: don't use too much water or the milk will be too diluted.) Squeeze the water out of the shredded coconut with your hand and place the dry shredded coconut into a separate container to re-use. Do this until the bowl is full of coconut milk. Sieve the milk into a large wok.
3) Repeat this procedure again with the dry shredded coconut to produce another bowlful of milk. (TIP: Do not use the shredded coconut more than three times in order to produce milk. Two times should be sufficient.) There is an Indonesian trick with the milk (leave it overnight - the milk will collect at the surface and the water will drop to the bottom and the milk can be separated with a spoon into the wok - this process is to avoid having too much water in the milk - if there is lots of water then the process of producing oil takes much longer. However I have not tried this trick!)
4) Put the wok of milk on the stove with an adequate fire (if you use a small fire, this procedure will take a long time!) If you use a large fire, remember to stir regularly (all the time, preferably!!) so that the milk doesn't burn at the bottom. Use a wooden spoon. Make sure you stir in the lumpy bits that collect on the sides of the wok.
5) The water will slowly evaporate away (when you stir the milk you will no longer be able to see any water.) Without water, you must stir the milk non-stop - push the spoon up and down the wok and scrape the sides. Soon you will begin to see the oil appearing above the white/yellow paste beneath.
6) The white paste will begin to turn brown. Keep stirring but push the brown lumps with your spoon up onto the sides of the wok. When all of the white paste has turned dark brown, turn off the stove and leave the oil to cool.
7) Scrape the brown crumbs away from the oil. Sieve the oil into glass jars. It takes some effort but it's a great alternative to unsustainable palm oil. The brown crumbs can be eaten (TIP: try mixing the crumbs with sambal / chilli sauce to add a fresh, coconut taste.)
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