Banana with Coconut Custard Parcel

Name: Banana With Coconut Custard Parcel
Ingredients: 150 g rice flour; 30 g tapioka flour; 500 ml normal coconut milk or 250 ml thick coconut milk mix with 250 ml water); 100 g sugar; ½ tsp salt; 1-2 pc pandanus leaves, cut or tied into a knot; 2 pc ripe plantains, slice diagonally; 10 sheets banana leaves, measuring about 18x20 cm ( 7x8 inches)

Origin: Jogjakarta

Ingredients

150 g rice flour
30 g tapioka flour
500 ml normal coconut milk or 250 ml thick coconut milk mix with 250 ml water)
100 g sugar
½ tsp salt
1-2 pc pandanus leaves, cut or tied into a knot
2 pc ripe plantains, slice diagonally
10 sheets banana leaves, measuring about 18×20 cm ( 7×8 inches)

Banana With Coconut Custard Parcel

Nagasari, seems to be a mandatory snack for selamatan or communal feast in the middle & eastern Java region. A selamatan takes place to celebrate almost any occasions, including birth, marriage, death, moving house, and so forth. This sweet dessert is listed among 30 Indonesian Culinary Icons.

Frankly as I remember in my childhood time, there were times when I was really fed up and tired of eating the same snacks or desserts including Nagasari, as often as I saw my grandma made the orders from the neighbours, especially during the wedding season !! Now after living abroad I feel like craving for the food I've thought long forgotten 😉 .

Tips: If banana leaves are not available, just take aluminium foil as substitute. Sure you will miss the aroma of the leaves but it still taste good!.

Important Note: In Indonesia we use pisang Raja (Latundan/Apple Banana) and pisang Kepok (Saba Banana) to make traditional snacks or desserts. Those two sorts of banana make a delicious, firmly form & constant colour after cooking. Unfortunately they are not always available almost rare in the west. As an alternative, take a ripe plantain (Musa paradisiaca) as a substitute. This plantain is available in almost all asian shops. Do not replace with fruit banana, because its colour will turn to a bluish-black after cooking.

Instructions

Mix the rice flour, tapioca flour and salt in a bowl. Add 250 ml coconut milk into the bowl, a little in a time & stir to mix.
Stirring well to get very smooth batter. (If necessary srain the batter with the kitchen sieve to remove any lumps.)Put aside.
Add the remaining coconut milk into a saucepan. Add sugar, salt & pandanus leaves.
Bring over medium heat into boil. Remove from heat. Pour in the batter into the saucepan.
Stir the mixture with spatula. The batter looks so thin as coconut milk but don't worry since it will get thicken after being heated.
Heat the saucepan over a low heat & stirring with a wooden spoon continuously to perform a thick and smooth custard.
Importand Tips: Do not cook over medium/high heat or leave the rice batter unattended even a while during the process of heating and stirring, otherwise the dough will be lumped very badly.
At the beginning of the cooking process, the dough sometimes looks a little bit lumpy and unevenly cooked. Ignore it & keep stirring contantly, the dough will turn smooth eventually by itself.
Peel-off the bananas and cut about 1 cm thick diagonally.
Prepare a piece of banana leaf. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the custard somewhere in the middle of the banana leaf.
Put a sliced of banana on the top of the custard & *** add with the custard onto banana to cover it.
Cover banana with custard.
(*** Sliced banana should not be covered with custard if you preferred Nagasari with a beautiful appearance as seen at the pic. above). Just add more custard at the bottom otherwise).
Wrap in "Oblong style" by enclosing the two remaining sides of banana leaf, then fold the both ends under the parcel (please see the pictures attached).
Wrapping step 2
Wrapping step 3
Ready wrapped parcel.
Steam the parcels for 30 minutes since the steamer begins to sizzle. Serve warm or cold.
Steam the banana parcels.

Additional Notes & Tipps

Fresh banana leaf is particularly stiff and easily torn when it is bent or fold. Therefore it is suggested to soften them before using. There are two ways in practice. Choose one which is easy & suitable for you.
(1st). Soak the banana leaf in hot water about 3-5 minutes until the leaves are getting soft and change color slightly, then wipe it dry with a paper towel or a kitchen tissue to remove the dirt.
(2nd). Wash and heat over the steam cooker or pass it over the flame of a gas stove or a hot electric burner.

Endang Lestari

Keyword banana, banana leaf, dessert, Indonesian, snack