Cucumber raita with coconut

Find small holes in the coconut at the “crown”, clean one of them with an awl or screwdriver and drain the liquid through it.

Put the coconut in a tight bag, wrap it in a towel, place it on a secure surface and hit it hard with a hammer or other heavy object to crack the shell. Remove the coconut from the bag, remove the shell.

Cut off about a quarter of the coconut (use the rest in other recipes, store in the refrigerator) and remove the brown skin with a paring knife. Grate the peeled coconut on a coarse grater.

Cut the chili in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and white partitions, cut the flesh into very thin half rings. Working with chili, even with not very sharp, is best done with gloves. If there are no gloves, after cutting, grease your fingers (especially the skin around the nails) with vegetable oil and wash your hands with soap and water.

With a whisk, carefully mix the yogurt with lemon juice, sugar and salt, add chili and cucumbers. Sprinkle with coconut and cilantro leaves and let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. and serve with tortillas.