Onde-Onde — Pandan Balls with Gula Melaka

Little green pandan glutinous rice balls filled with liquid palm sugar that burst in your mouth. Cik Farah's recipe gets the coating right and the filling molten. Free and fun to make!

🥘 Ingredients

• 200g glutinous rice flour
• Fresh pandan juice (blend 8-10 pandan leaves with 120ml water, strain) — about 100-110ml
• Warm water — as needed
• Pinch of salt
• FILLING:
• 120g gula Melaka (palm sugar) — chopped very fine or grated
• COATING:
• 100g freshly grated coconut (not desiccated)
• Pinch of salt

👨‍🍳 Steps

1. Step 1 — Coconut Coating: Mix freshly grated coconut with a pinch of salt. Steam for 5 minutes to prevent coconut from turning sour quickly. Remove pandan leaf. Set aside to cool.
2. Step 2 — Dough: Pour pandan juice into glutinous rice flour, mix. Add warm water a tablespoon at a time until a smooth, pliable dough forms. Should feel like soft playdough. Rest 5 minutes.
3. Step 3 — Fill: Divide dough into 25-30 pieces (roughly 12g each). Roll each into a smooth ball, then flatten into a 5cm disc. Place a small pinch of finely chopped gula Melaka in the centre. Gather edges up and pinch firmly to seal — roll between palms to smooth. The seal must be tight.
4. Step 4 — Cook: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop onde-onde in batches. They will sink then float. Once floating, cook 2 more minutes. Remove with slotted spoon, shaking off excess water.
5. Step 5 — Coat: Immediately roll hot onde-onde in coconut mixture. Coat thoroughly.
6. Step 6 — Serve: Serve warm — the gula Melaka inside should be liquid and molten when you bite in. Best eaten within 2-3 hours.
7. Tip: If gula Melaka leaks while cooking, your seal wasn't tight enough. Press the seam extra firmly.

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