The sight of a mound of green coconuts by the roadside — with a small heap of empty shells testifying to the number of thirsty throats — is a common one these days. In my neighbourhood, a young boy from Bihar pushes a cart full of the most tender green coconuts, though I’ve no idea how he always manages to get the sweetest of the lot. I like the skilful way he lops off the top of the coconut, makes a slit in it, inserts a straw into it and gives it to his customers. That’s an artist at work.

Another artist at work — though several hundred kilometres away — is a gentleman called Thomas Joseph. The new executive chef at Novotel Kolkata Hotel and Residences has been experimenting with green coconut, turning its refreshingly cold water and pulp into the most exotic chilled dishes. “Tender green coconut is just right for the summer,” he says. “It’s delicious, refreshing and good for the health,” he points out.

I like the “delicious” bit — and think he’s on the right track. He can’t go wrong with his chilled papaya and tender coconut salad — which he garnishes with mint and dresses with honey and lime juice. Or the tender coconut drink that he rustles up with its water, chopped coconut meat, condensed milk and powdered cardamom.

“Coconut water is the most pristine form of liquid,” the chef holds. “And what’s great is that everybody likes it.”

The chef’s excitement stirred me, too. So I asked chef Pradip Rozario, who runs K.K.’s Fusion in Calcutta, about his thoughts on how a green coconut could be used for a cold dish in the summer month. “I poach a piece of bekti in coconut water, along with the soft green coconut pulp. Then I add some cold garlic mayo to the fish once it’s done, and spoon the thickened water-cum-pulp over it,” he says. “And then I put some capers on top of the fish.”

Who would have thought that this innocuous little green thing could lead to such exotica?

Chef Joseph’s recipe for chilled avocado and shrimp soup is equally mouth-watering. He sautés shrimps with onions, adds seasonings and then some shredded basil leaves. He puts coconut water over the shrimps and thickens the liquid a bit. Then he takes it off the flame, lets it cool, adds coconut pulp and chopped avocado to the soup, blends it, chills it — and serves it in a green coco-nut shell.

As you can tell, if you just let your imagination soar, you can actually do wonders with green coconuts. Chef Joymalya Banerjee of Bohemian in Calcutta is working on a Sunday brunch where chilled green coconut dishes will also figure. His special cold salad will consist of diced pieces of green coconut meat, aam shotto (thickened and dried mango layers), guava chunks, lettuce and chicken — mixed with a paste of coconut pulp and mustard. And he also wants to prepare a tender coconut and mustard mousse.

Chef Joseph has desserts in mind, too — among them is a green coconut jelly, sweetened with jaggery, flavoured with cardamom and set with a bit of gelatin. “Cardamom and coconut go well,” says the chef who comes from a region — Kerala — which produces both in large quantities.

Coconut water is nutritious — it contains calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus. So it is considered not just cooling, but invigorating too.

And it is a great cooking ingredient because while its own taste is mild, it can adapt other flavours easily. Not just that, when you cook with it, it throws up an apt speech bubble. Chill, it says.

Photographs by Subhendu Chaki;
Courtesy: Novotel Kolkata Hotel and Residences