Onde-Onde (Small Rice Cakes Rolled In Grated Coconut)
Ingredients:
250 g (8 oz) glutinous rice flour
2 tbs cocoa (optional)
90 g (3 oz) gula Jawa or Demerara sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup water
1/2 fresh coconut
In Indonesia onde-onde are always a pleasantly fresh green colour, since they are made with the fragrant leaf called daun pandan. I have tried making onde-onde in England with green colouring, but they didn’t look so nice; so, as an alternative, I use cocoa to give the coclour, and a mild flavour, of chocolate.
Sift the flavour and the cocoa into a mixing-bowl, with a pinch of salt. Add the water a little at a time, mixing and then kneading the pastry until it is soft and smooth. Take a knob of pastry about as big as a small marble, flatten it on the pastry board, and fill with a small pieces of gula Jawa or 1/3 teaspoonful of demerara sugar. Shape the pastry into a ball, with the sugar inside. Repeat until all the pastry is used up.
Half-fill a saucepan with water, and add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, and drop in your onde-onde one by one, until there are ten or dozen in the pan. Boil them for 10-15 minutes, or until they float on the surface. Take them out very carefully and drain them in a colander. When cooking is completed, grate the fresh coconut, having first removed the brown outer rind. Mix 3/4 teaspoonful of salt with the coconut, and roll the onde-onde in the gratings until all are well covered. Arrange on a serving-dish, and sprinkle any remaining coconut on top. Serve warm or cold.
