Easy To Make: Homemade Coconut & Banana Smoothie.

My love affair with coconut grows everyday. It’s a real love affair brewed in a blackened African pot over smoldering coals. Don’t expect it to end anytime soon. I keep discovering and creating my own recipes with either coconut water, the milk or the meat. Coconut is an all-round miracle fruit packed with amazing health benefits. I can confess that since I started drinking coconut water every other day it has really helped reduce that irritable indigestion I get every now and then. The health benefits of coconut oil, water and milk are numerous!

So I made this fresh homemade coconut & banana with dashes of pawpaw smoothie whilst preparing my Ebunubunu soup and I almost forgot to share the recipe so here it is. I stress here more on how to make the coconut milk just in case you don’t know how its made.

To make the coconut milk:

1.     Buy one matured coconut. This is called Akpe ni ator in Ga which means Eat and be full. It costs about GHC 1 on the local market.

2.     Drain out the water first by piercing the three little holes at the top of the coconut. They will yield to any sharp pointed object like a paring knife.

3.     Cut the whole nut open with a cutlass.

4.     Scrape out the coconut meat and chop it up into big chunks.

5.     Blend the chunks in a smoothie blender. Don’t try using an ordinary blender as it would prove too heavy for the engine. Trust me on this.

6.     Pour out the coconut shreds into a muslin fabric or any clean fabric with tiny holes. The fabric must be over an empty container.

7.     Gather the ends of the fabric and gently squeeze.

8.     The coconut milk will drain out into the empty container. Keep squeezing.

9.     One coconut will give you more than a glass full of white milk goodness.

The Smoothie

·      Wash and Peel 1 small pawpaw and 2 pieces of banana. Deseed pawpaw.

·      Chop ripe banana and pawpaw into cute chunks.

·      Pour this into the smoothie maker.

·      Pour coconut milk next.

·      Add ice-cubes

·      Blend

Not only was it filling but also quite sensational! I think anyone suffering from constipation needs to try this smoothie. The pawpaw in the mix has papain and huge amounts of Vitamin C which softens your stool. So get ready for some time in the 'white house'. 

Earlier today i discover Ayikpl3 a traditional meal from the Volta Region which is made from a mixture of coconut milk, beans and corn meal. Now that is something I have to try!

Have you tried using coconut in any of your Ghanaian or non-Ghanaian recipes? Did you see any marked improvement in your health after using it?