Coconut Cordial is one of the easiest East Indian sweets for Christmas to make. And it tastes yummy too! Granny has always made the coconut version of cordial. Some people use almonds or cashewnuts instead of coconut. We’ve never tried that recipe for “Cordial No 1” as it’s called in the East Indian Recipe book.
We’re quite satisfied with our Cordial No 2, although we do tweak the recipe a bit to make it less sweet. Anyways, here’s the recipe.
Recipe for Gluten-Free Coconut Cordial

Grind one fresh coconut with one chowni (East Indian wine glass) of rose water. That’s the 30 ml chowni. You’ll need approximately 225 gms of the coconut. Keep it aside. Also butter a thali (flat round dish) before hand and keep aside.
Then take 300 gms of granulated sugar and make a mel (thick sugar syrup) with half a cup of water.

Add the ground coconut to the sugar mel and stir over a low flame.

Add a few drops of color and continue to stir till its quite dry and leaves the sides. We always add pink, because granny always made it pink.

Pour the mixture into the buttered thali.

Butter a small vessel and use it to flatten the mixture till about half centimetre thick.


Cut into diamond or square shapes.

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Okay, that’s it for our granny’s easy to make East Indian (coconut) Cordial recipe that’s gluten-free. Is it similar to your Christmas cordial? Comment and let me know.
Other Recipes You Might Like
- Savory pancakes
- Naralchi Wadi, from the Konkan coast of India
- Ginger Wine
- Try the boilermaker cocktail
- Carrot soup with tomatoes

East Indian (Coconut) Cordial Dessert
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Ingredients
- 225 g Coconut Fresh and ground
- 100 milliliter Water Equals half a cup
- 30 milliliter Rose water One chowni
- 3 drops Food Colour
- 300 g Sugar granulated
Instructions
- Grind one fresh coconut with one chowni aka wine glass (30 ml) of rose water and set aside.
- Butter a thali (flat round dish) and set aside.
- Make a mel (thick sugar syrup) with the sugar and half a cup of water.
- Add the ground coconut to the sugar mel and stir over a low flame.
- Add food color and continue stirring till quite dry.
- Pour the mixture into the buttered thali (flat round dish).
- Spread it out and flatten with a buttered pot till approximately half centimetre thick.
- Cut into diamond or square shapes and leave to dry.
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Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
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Thanks very much for the cordial recipe…. just what i wanted…..will try it today….did you actually make it?….how did you get the pics? So happy to see them….
Thanks Frenny. My sis made the cordial using my granny’s recipe. I just helped with the stirring, so it was easy to take pics. 🙂
Have you noticed that almost every East Indian family makes their cordial pink? I wonder why this is. Thanks for sharing our traditional East Indian recipes.