6 Malaysian Traditional Kuih Pandan Recipes!

Hello again Madre Lovers! As our fasting month, Ramadhan is approaching, we are all excited during this holy month, not only the fact that it’s the most blessing month for us Muslim, it also the month where we get to gather the family during the breaking fast event.

As we are familiar that Ramadhan reminds us of Bazaar Ramadhan, a market that is a must for us to go to buy meals for Iftar, it’s also a given for us to have Traditional Kuih as the dessert during our Iftar session.

As we all aware, that our first Ramadhan will be on the RMO period, which means there will be no Bazaar until the extension of RMO ended, so here are 6 easy recipes of Kuih Traditional using Pandan that we can make at home to serve for our loved ones!

Kuih Sagu Pandan

A mildly sweet kuih made from tapioca pearls and coated with grated coconut. This is a great dessert for gathering. It has the consistency of jello but not as hard. The soft and chewy texture of this green kuih together with its mild pandan-flavoured taste and coating of shredded coconut definitely makes it stand out

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sagoo
• 2 cups of water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 200g of desiccated coconut, mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3 drops of green colouring
• 1 tablespoon of pandan extract

How to make:

1. Heat some water in a pot and put in 3 drops of green colouring. Let it comes to a boil.
2. Put in the sagoo and stir till thickens.
3. Put in the pandan juice. Mix well and take off the stoce. Pour the mixture into a tray greased with some vegetable oil and steam for 20-25 minutes.
4. Take out the tray and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut into squares and roll on the salted desiccated coconut prepared earlier.

Tepung Pelita

The tepung pelita is a two-layer traditional kuih prepared in a square mold made of banana leaves. Its sweetness is complemented with a hint of saltiness from the coconut milk layer above.

It’s the texture is soft and creamy. The kuih is typically served after lunch, during tea or when breaking fast during Ramadan

Ingredients:

a) Bottom Layer

• 1 cup of rice flour
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 5 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of limewater
• 1 tablespoon of pandan extract

b) Top Layer

• 1 cup of coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons of rice flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt

How to make:

1. Mix all the ingredients in (a) together until well combined. Put it aside.
2. In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients in (b) until well combined. Put it aside. Meanwhile, prepare the steamer.
3. Instead of making moulds using banana leaves, use small plastic containers instead. In each container, put 1 teaspoon of sugar. Then, pour the mixture for the bottom layer until it fills 1/3 of the container.
4. Put the containers inside the steamer and let steam for 15 minutes. After that take them out and pour in the batter for the top layer.
5. Place the containers back into the steamer and steam for 10 minutes.

Putu Bambu

Putu Bambu is a steamed rice cake originating from the Tamil puttu. It consists of rice flour stuffed with palm sugar and steamed in Bamboo tubes and then topped with grated coconut and a sprinkle of sugar. It is quite similar to Putu Piring.

Ingredients:

• 400g of rice flour
• 150g of fresh dessicated coconut
• 125g palm sugar
• 300ml of water
• 2 pandan leaves
• 1 cap-full of green colouring
• Banana leaves (3cm diameter and 8cm long)
• Bamboo moulds

How to make:

1. Boil water in a pot on medium flame. Add in 1/2 tablespoon of salt and Pandan leaves. Stir to dissolve the salt. Wait until the water starts to simmer and turn off the stove.
2. In a big bowl, add in the rice flour. Pour in the water you have heated just now into the bowl, little by little. While pouring, put a cap of green colouring and slowly stir the mixture until tiny granules are formed.
3. Use a perforated sieve and sift the mixture. Rub the remaining mixture in the sieve gently using your fingers till tiny beads form. Place the beads in a separate bowl. Repeat until all the flour mixture is
4. Prepare the bamboo moulds and put in the mixture til 1/2 of the mould.
5. Place a small piece of palm sugar in the middle and put in the flour mixture til 3/4 of the mould. Repeat the process till all the moulds are being filled.
6. Prepare the steamer. Place a piece of banana leaf at the bottom of the steaming tray. Put all the moulds in and close the steamer. Let the cakes cooked for 10 minutes. Take out the moulds once the rice cakes are soft and fluffy.

Kuih Lopes

Kuih Lopes has many versions across the West Coast but the northern Malaysian version is Pandan flavoured glutinous rice cakes, rolled in coconut and served with gula melaka syrup. It has its signature bite from the use of air kapur (limewater).

Ingredients:

a) Glutinous rice

• 2 cups of milk glutinous rice
• 2 cups of second press coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon of pandan extract
• 1/2 teaspoon of limewater
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 drops of green colouring
• Desiccated coconut, mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• Banana leaves

b) Palm Sugar Syrup

• 100g of palm sugar
• 5 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 cups of water
• 2 pandan leaves, tie into a knot

How to make:

a) Glutinous Sticky Rice

1. Wash the glutinous rice and then soak it with some water, green colouring and limewater for 30 minutes.
2. Toss out the glutinous rice and put it in a tray. Put in the coconut milk, salt and pandan juice. Mix well.
3. Heat up the steamer and wait til the water boils. Steam for 10-15 minutes until the rice is 3/4 cooked.
4. When the coconut milk dries up, fluff up the glutinous rice. Let steam for 2 minutes. Take out from the steamer and let cool.
5. Take a strip of banana leaf that is wide enough for you to place the glutinous rice in the middle. Heat the leaf on top of fire for 1 minute. Don’t let it burn!
6. Put the glutinous rice in the middle, not too much that you cannot roll it 2-3 times. Tie up the ends with a piece of string.
7. Put all the rolls into the steamer again and steam for 15 minutes. After that, take them out and let cool.
8. When serving, cut the roll of glutinous rice into small circles and roll them onto the salted desiccated coconut prepared earlier.

b) Palm Sugar Syrup

1. Put all the ingredients into a pot. Let them come to a boil and reduce the flame.
2. Stir till becomes thick. Remove from stove and let cool completely. Enjoy with the glutinous rice circles.

Kuih Cara Manis

This is a traditional Malay kuih, a sort-of pancake-y dessert, kuih cara manis is similar to kuih bahulu, but with a sugar-filled centre and it’s typically served during tea-time.

In the Ramadan month, it is much sought after at the Ramadan Bazaar and loved by the locals for its spongy sweetness.  

Ingredients:

a) Batter

• 1 cup of wheat flour
• 1/2 cup of thick coconut cream
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cup of pandan extract
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons of green colouring

b) Filling

• 100g of granulated white sugar

c) Other ingredients

• 1 Pandan leaf
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

How to make:

1. Blend the ingredients in A for the batter.
2. Heat up the iron mould on the lowest fire.
3. Oil the mould. Make sure there’s no excess oil pooled at the bottom.
4. Add in the batter until 3/4 full.
5. When the batter is cooked, about 3-4 minutes, add in the sugar.
6. Cover the iron mould with a pot lid, Let the kuih fully cooked for 3 minutes.
7. Remove the kuih from the mould. Repeat steps 3 until 7 until all the batter is finished.

Kuih Wajik/Wajid

Wajik or Wajid is a traditional kuih is made with steamed glutinous rice and it has a chewy, sticky texture, makes you crave for more. It has shape of a diamond where incidentally, in a card game, the diamond is translated as a Wajik. So, you are not supposed to cut your Wajik into squares 😉

Ingredients:

• 500g of glutinous rice
• 100g of granulated white sugar
• 750g of palm sugar
• 2 pandan leaves
• 375g of thick coconut cream
• Salt to taste
• 200ml of water
• 1 tablespoon of pandan extract

How to make:

1. Wash the glutinous rice and soak it overnight. Once done, steam it till cook.
2. While waiting for the glutinous rice to cook, heat up a pot on medium heat and add the palm sugar, granulated sugar, pandan extract, pandan leaves and salt in 200ml water til dissolve. After that, sieve it.
3. Add coconut cream into the sugar water and cook till thick and stringy.
4. Add in the glutinous rice and stir till the mixture does not stick to the ladle.
5. Place the mixture into a baking tray and flatten it. After it cools, cut and serve.

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That will be it! There’s even more Malaysian traditional Kuih made from pandan, you can google it to find more. Happy cooking everyone!