People not from this Bioregion may not know how to open the coconut as it is not part of many diets outside of South India. Smash it on a rock, hit it with the back of a machete, or get help from local people, this is nothing for them and they will happily show you!

The grated coconut flesh is such a useful ingredient in so many different dishes,but more importantly, for grating coconut, a tool is key! What you see in the images is a traditional coconut scraping tool. You will find it in all cookware stores in Tamil Nadu.

So, what are you waiting for?

Go find your local store, and start grating your own coconut. The grated flesh can be added to vegetable dishes,curries,soups, sweets like ladoo,salads,chutneys and of course coconut milk!