[Indonesian Traditional Food] Ketan Sarikayo - Steamed Glutinous Rice and Coconut Milk Custard

I made this Padangnese/Minangnese (also known as Minangkabau, is indigenous to the highlands of West Sumatra, in Indonesia) style as our break-fast dish. They call it Sarikayo, some people may call it Srikaya and Sarikaya. But it never come into questions, in fact it enriches the culinary world of Indonesia.

Perhaps, not many of you knowing that Indonesia has various kind of foods. Not just the iconic dish beef rendang (which come from Padang/Minang), gudeg (young jackfruit in coconut milk, from Central Java), satay ayam (from Madura) or mie goreng Jawa (javanese style fried noodle), etc. In Indonesia you can find tons of traditional recipes that comes from each ethnic groups inherited in generations. They are usually rich in ingredients and full of spices.

Sarikaya itself is varied in Indonesia. You will find Sarikaya in green color with pandan extract in Palembang, Sarikaya pudding without steamed glutinous rice in Makassar and Sarikaya mold in the baking dish with steamed glutinous rice in Java.

To honour my home country Indonesia, I'd like to introduce this dish to the world through Waiter There's Something in....Indonesian hosted by Andrew of Spittoon Extra.





Ketan Sarikayo - Steamed Glutinous Rice and Coconut Milk Custard
adapted from : Uni Dewi Anwar's Family Recipe

Sarikayo (Coconut Milk Custard)



Ingredients :
* 1 cup egg (dita-I used 3 eggs)
* 1 cup dark brown sugar/coconut sugar/palm sugar, shredded
* 1 cup thick coconut milk
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 2 pandan leaves, knotted
* 1 tbsp ginger water (dita-I used 2 tbs)

Directions :
1. Mix sugar and coconut milk, stir until sugar dissolves, strain. Set aside.
2. Beat loosely the eggs. Pour in the coconut milk-sugar mixture. Stir well. Add ginger water, vanilla and pandan leaves.
3. Pour in the baking dish. Steam for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool and serve.

Ketan/Steamed Glutinous Rice

Ingredients :
300 gr glutinous rice/sweet rice, soaked for 1 hour, drained
1/2 tsp salt + 1 pandan leaf
150 ml coconut milk

Directions :
1. Steam rice until half-cooked. Remove from steamer. Set aside.
2. Mix coconut milk, salt and pandan leaf, stir well, bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
3. Add coconut milk to the half-cooked rice. Stir until absorbed.
4. Put the rice back on the steamer. Steam for 30 minutes.
5. Cool and serve with Sarikaya.



The soft texture of Sarikayo blends with the ginger aroma, serves with steamed glutinous rice is really a sweet indulgence in the afternoon.

Another Indonesian Food Recipes from my kitchen :
1. Klepon - Sweet Rice Balls Stuffed with Palm Sugar
2. Biji Salak - Sweet Potato Balls in Palm Sugar Syrup
3. Bubur Kacang Ijo - Mung Beans Porridge with Pumpkin Puree
4. Nasi Langgi
5. Kering Kentang - Spicy and Crispy Potato
6. Tongseng
7. Mie Bakso Iga
8. Wedang Ronde - Ginger Ronde Drink
9. Roti Gambang - Indonesian Traditional Bread
10. Gohu - Unripe Papaya in Sweet, Sour and Spicy Syrup
11. Ketan Serundeng - Sticky Rice Balls with Spicy Grated Coconut
12. Gemblong - Deep Fried Sticky Rice Coated with Caramel

[Indonesian Traditional Food] Ketan Serundeng - Sticky Rice Balls with Spicy Grated Coconut

I still remember, my mom used to make this dish for our breakfast.



Ketan Serundeng
Mom's recipe

Ketan/Steamed Glutinous Rice
Ingredients :
2 cups glutinous rice/sweet rice, soaked for 1 hour, drained
1/2 tsp salt + 1 pandan leaf
1/2 cup coconut milk



Directions :
1. Steam rice with pandan leaf and salt until half-cooked (about 15-20 minutes). Remove from steamer. Set aside.
2. Mix coconut milk, salt and pandan leaf, stir well, bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
3. Add coconut milk to the half-cooked rice. Stir until absorbed.
4. Put the rice back on the steamer. Steam for 30 minutes.

Serundeng
Ingredients :
1 cup dried grated coconut
5 kaffir limes leaves, chopped finely
1 tbsp caster sugar

Spices, grind to paste :
5 shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried shrimp
1 tsp palm sugar/gula jawa/dark brown sugar
2 red chillies (as desired)
salt to taste
2 tbsp fried peanut
1 tbsp vegetable oil for sauteeing



Directions :
Sautee the paste in a hot pan until fragrant, add dried grated coconut and chopped kaffir limes leaves, sprinkle with sugar, mixed well. Remove from heat.

Serve : form the sticky rice into mini balls shape and coated with serundeng

[Indonesian Traditional Food] Biji Salak - Sweet Potato Balls in Palm Sugar Syrup

Making this brings my childhood memories. My mom used to make this dessert during ramadhan. Actually you can get this popular break-fast dish from the street vendor but we always prefer the homemade ones :).



After having some sips of warm sweet tea, this is definitely a luscious break-fast dish.

Biji Salak - Sweet Potato Balls in Palm Sugar Syrup
adapted from Dapurbunda

Ingredients :
500 g sweet potatoes
50 g tapioca flour
¼ tsp salt



Syrup :
250 g gula Jawa/palm sugar/brown sugar/coconut sugar, shredded
250 ml water
1 pandan (screwpine) leaf

Coconut Milk Sauce :
500 ml coconut milk
2 pandan (screwpine) leaves
¼ tsp salt

Directions :
1. Steamed sweet potatoes until done. Remove from heat. Peeled and mashed.
2. Take mashed sweet potatoes, mix with tapioca flour and salt, knead until smooth. Roll into small balls, about 1 cm in diameter, set aside. Sprinkle with flour to avoid sticking.
3. Bring water to a boil, and drop in the sweet potato balls, cook until they float. Drain and set aside.

Syrup
Directions :
Put the water, sugar, and pandan leaf in a saucepan and boil, strain and put back in the saucepan. Boil again. Add in the balls until they are all floating. Serve with coconut milk sauce.

Coconut Milk Sauce
Directions :
Cook coconut milk with salt and pandan leaves, stirring on low heat until the mixture boils. Remove from heat. Cool and serve.

[Indonesian Traditional Food] Klepon - Sweet Rice Balls Stuffed with Palm Sugar

Ramadhan is a special month of the year for muslims throughout the world. During this month muslims fast from dawn to sunset everyday. It's time for inner reflection, self-control and devotion to God.

In the month of ramadhan, we usually eat sweet for breaking our fast. Maybe because I'm far far away from my home country, Indonesia, I got excited to make anykind of Indonesian traditional dessert nowadays.



In Indonesia when ramadhan comes, we could find traditional desserts everywhere, especially in the street vendor. They sell variation of sweet before iftar. These kind of desserts known as jajan pasar (jajan means buying some food from the street vendor, pasar means market) because usually they sell food in the market instead of the street.

In this special month, I'm going to make posts about some of Indonesian traditional food. Enjoy!!

Dearest Lubna dan Yasmeen, here's my submission for "Joy from Fasting to Feasting". Ramadhan Kareem.



This one is my family all time favorite :).
Klepon (Sweet Rice Balls Stuffed with Palm Sugar)
adapted from : here



Ingredients:
* 1½ cups glutinous rice powder
* ¾ cup lukewarm water (dita-I used coconut milk)
* 2-3 drops green food coloring or pandan paste
* 8 tsp. grated coconut sugar/Java dark brown sugar/gula Jawa/palm sugar
* 1 cup fresh-grated coconut, mixed with ½ tsp. salt



Directions :
* Mix the glutinous rice powder with the lukewarm water and green food coloring into a firm but flexible dough.
* Pull off one full teaspoon of the dough and shape it into a ball with approximately 1-inch in diameter.
* Push a finger into the center of the ball to make a hole, and put in approximately ½ tsp. of the grated sugar. Seal, and roll it back into the ball shape with the palms of your hands. Prepare all the balls and set them aside.
* Prepare a pot half filled with water and bring it to a boil.
* Drop the balls into the boiling water. Remove the balls with a spoon once they float to the water surface and then roll the balls in the grated coconut.
* Serve at room temperature.

Makes 30 rice balls.

Red & White : Sweet Rice Balls Stuffed with Strawberry Compote

Looks like Klepon?



Actually I didn't mean to make klepon. Klepon is Indonesian sweet pandan rice balls stuffed with palm sugar and covered with desiccated coconut. I just wanted to use up my almost expired rice flour and the leftover strawberry compote.

After googling around, I found 2 recipes that looks interesting. The first recipe is pretty similar with klepon. You can find the recipe here. The second one is mochi recipe, soft and chewy Japanese rice cake, but looking at the ingredients and composition of the recipe I don't think it will turned out to be mochi-like (here for the recipe).

I couldn't make up my mind, which recipe I would prefer. So with a little re-worked from me, I create my own rice balls. I modified and combined the ingredients and methods from that 2 recipes. And the result.......
They turned out to look like klepon but the taste is between klepon and mochi. Sweet, sour (from the compote) and chewy.

Dhi, Fitri and Dwi, here's my entry for Red & White Foodie Photo Contest to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day.

Sweet Rice Balls Stuffed with Strawberry Compote



Ingredients :
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup tapioca flour

Directions :
1) Combine glutinous rice flour, sugar and water, mix well.
2) Pour into sauce pan, bring to a boil for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3) Set aside to cool.
4) Add tapioca flour, smear both of your hands with cooking oil, shape into balls filled with strawberry compote.
5) Fill a large bowl half full with water & bring to a boil. Cook the rice balls for 4 to 5 minutes or until they start to float.
6) While still hot, coat the balls with the coconut. Serve warm.

Strawberry Compote

Ingredients :
2 cup strawberry, halved
1/2 cup sugar
5 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)


Directions :
1. In a saucepan combine the strawberry, sugar and lemon juice over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves (3-5 minutes).
2. Simmer for 7-10 minutes or until rhubarb is tender. Add balsamic vinegar. Remove from heat.

On the next day, I made this french vanilla cake from Betty Crocker topped with the leftover strawberry compote. Still in the mood for red and white ;)