Pulut Inti (Glutinous Rice with Coconut Topping)
Pulut inti is a Nyonya kueh. It’s like Thai mango sticky rice except there’s no mango. It has grated coconut instead, as a topping.
The rice layer is very pretty with a mix of blue and white. The blue bits are coloured with the juice of blue pea flowers. The coconut layer is brown because it’s sweetened with palm sugar.
Pulut inti is good so long as the topping isn’t too sweet, and the rice isn’t mushy. This is a pretty simple kueh that really can’t go wrong.
Pulut Inti
This recipe is a doddle. Just steam some glutinous rice and grated coconut, and put the two together. Easy peasy.
Ingredients
Pulut (glutinous rice)
- 4 young pandan leaves
- 65 blue pea flowers (bunga telang), fresh or dried
- 320 g glutinous rice
- ¾ tsp salt
- 120 ml water
- 150 g fresh undiluted coconut milk
Inti (topping)
- 4 young pandan leaves
- 2 tbsp water
- 200 g peeled and grated fresh coconut
- 80 g medium brown gula melaka (palm sugar), roughly chopped
- 4 tsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ¼ cup water
- ½ tbsp tapioca starch
Instructions
Pulut (glutinous rice)
- Rinse pandan leaves thoroughly. Wring to crush leaves.4 young pandan leaves
- Pound fresh blue pea flowers. Place pulp in a small strainer. Press hard to yield 4 tsp blue liquid. If using dried flowers, sprinkle with 1½ tbsp hot water to hydrate, then proceed as for fresh flowers65 blue pea flowers (bunga telang), fresh or dried
- Rinse glutinous rice till water runs clear. Drain thoroughly in a sieve. Transfer rice to a bowl that holds 3-4 cups. Sprinkle with salt and stir through. Tuck pandan leaves in rice. Smooth the top. Add water. Steam 15 minutes over rapidly boiling water.320 g glutinous rice, ¾ tsp salt, 120 ml water
- Drizzle rice with half of coconut milk. Mix with chopsticks till absorbed. Drizzle with remaining coconut milk. Repeat mixing with chopsticks. Make a few holes in the rice, then resume steaming, this time for 5 minutes.150 g fresh undiluted coconut milk
- Drizzle with blue flower liquid. Continue steaming till rice is cooked but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Taste and see if it is. If slightly undercooked, steam another 5 minutes. If very undercooked, sprinkle with 1-2 tbsp water, then steam another 5 minutes.
- Remove rice from heat and discard pandan leaves. Rake with chopsticks to mix blue and white rice. Leave on a wire rack till cool, then cover till ready to serve.
Inti (filling)
- To make inti, place pandan leaves and 2 tbsp water in an electric rice cooker on cook mode. When pandan leaves are fragrant or cooker changes to keep warm mode, add grated coconut, palm sugar, sugar, salt, and water. Stir to mix thoroughly. Press cook button and cook 10 minutes. Sprinkle with tapioca starch. Stir to mix thoroughly. Continue cooking till cooker changes to keep warm mode.4 young pandan leaves, 2 tbsp water, 200 g peeled and grated fresh coconut, 80 g medium brown gula melaka (palm sugar), roughly chopped, 4 tsp sugar, ⅛ tsp salt, ¼ cup water, ½ tbsp tapioca starch
- Check that gula melaka and sugar are melted. If not, continue cooking 5 minutes or so on keep warm mode. Have a taste, with some glutinous rice. Add more palm sugar and sugar if necessary. Discard pandan leaves. Leave on a wire rack till cool, then cover till ready to serve.
Plate up
- To serve, place ⅓ cup rice on a small plate and top with 2 tbsp grated coconut, or 3 tbsp for those with a sweet tooth. If you like, you could wrap each portion in a piece of banana leaf. Leftovers should be refrigerated. Sprinkle with a bit of water, steam to reheat thoroughly, then cool to room temperature before eating.