Name: Klepon Gianyar (home recipe)
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Makes about 24
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: 200g glutinous rice flour; 3 tbsp tapioca flour; 1/2 tsp salt; 210ml coconut milk, blended with 3 pandan leaves and strained; For the filling: 150g palm sugar boiled with 150ml water; For the coating: 1/2 fresh coconut, grated, with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 knotted pandan leaf

History

Klepon is spread across maritime Southeast Asia: it appears in the Javanese Serat Centhini of 1814, and Balinese and Bugis-Makassar communities use it in ritual offerings. Gianyar's version has its own shape. It is slightly oval because the palm sugar goes in as a liquid before boiling, not as a solid piece as in Javanese klepon. Klepon Gianyar 1980 began after a provincial cooking contest, and its maker was later invited to Jakarta to serve state guests.

Make it at home

Yield Makes about 24Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

200g glutinous rice flour
3 tbsp tapioca flour
1/2 tsp salt
210ml coconut milk, blended with 3 pandan leaves and strained
For the filling: 150g palm sugar boiled with 150ml water
For the coating: 1/2 fresh coconut, grated, with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 knotted pandan leaf

Method

Mix the grated coconut, salt and pandan leaf, steam for 15 minutes and set aside.
Boil the palm sugar with the water until dissolved and slightly thick, then cool completely.
Mix the glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and salt. Bring the pandan coconut milk to the boil, pour it in and knead to a smooth dough.
Flatten a walnut-sized piece of dough, spoon in about 1 tsp of the cool liquid sugar, pinch it shut and roll into an oval.
Boil the klepon in plenty of water until they float, then lift out and drain.
Roll in the steamed coconut and serve at once.

Tip from the editors. Seal each ball completely, as a weak seam leaks the sugar into the water, and eat them within a few hours.