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Coconut

The Tamil name for Coconut is "Thengai". As you can note from the ingredients page, the word ending "gai" means it is a vegetable.
Coconut

In present day, Tamil cuisine and in general Indian cuisine, Coconut plays a major role. From Tamil culture, the use of coconut has gone to Thai and other Asian cusine as well.

Coconut is the key ingredient for all Kuruma's, Sundal's and many non-vegetarian dishes. In Tamil cusine, there are various ways of using "Thengai":

1

Tender Coconut:
Tender coconut is had for the water and the tender coconut fruit.
It is very healthy and you can see people drinking in the early morning and round the clock thru street vendors in Tamil Nadu and many places in India. Nowadays restaurants are making tender coconut juice.

2

Grated Coconut:
Grated coconut is used for making many dishes. Grated coconut are used as such (as in Sundal or in coconut-rice) or grinded along with spices and used as in Kuruma.
Grated Coconut

3

Coconut milk:
Coconut milk is side dish for Appam. Coconut milk can be extracted by hand using grated coconuts and mixing them with water and squeezing the juice out. Or you can use mixer grinder to get the milk from cut coconut pieces.

Coconut milk also called as "Thaengai paal" is also used as an ingredient for making curries like Chicken curry. This style is famous in Thai cuisine was a derivation of Tamil cooking style 100s of years ago.

4

Coconut oil:
Coconut oil is called "Thaengai ennai" in Tamil language. "Ennai" means Oil in English.

4

Coconut cut into half:
Traditionally we will have coconut cut into half as an offering to God when we pray during auspicious days or festivals or when we visit temple. Usually coconut will be accompanies by 2 Banana's.

Popular dish where Coconut is used:
Sundal, Kuruma, Appam

Spelling variations in Tamil name for Coconut:
Thengai, Thaengai, Thenga, Thenkai

Tender coconut is called Ilaneer or Ilaniir.
In Tamil language "Ila" means "Young" and "Neer" means "Water. We have Tender coconut for the water in it. The Tamil name for "Tender coconut" is "Ilaneer" which literally means "Young Water".


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