Kuih Tako Pandan

Recipe from 'Traditional Kuih-Muih' by Wong Sip Moi.

It seem like, it quite difficult to get the broad type of pandan leaves in our local wet market. I had to ask the vegetable store keeper to keep a few bunches for me. Fortunately, he managed to get one bunch for me. However, I still find that it not the broadness which I wanted. He told me that mostly the broad type of pandan leaves are reserved for local restaurants. No choice, so I just have to use it. So my kuih is quite small and short.

Recipe

Ingredients (yield about 24 kuihs)
Water chestnut layer:
30g cornflour
30g green pea flour
195ml water
70g sugar
250ml pandan juice
1/8tsp salt
100g water chestnuts (peeled, finely diced)

Coconut layer:
28g rice flour
30g green pea flour
250ml concentrated coconut milk
350ml water
60g sugar
1/4tsp salt
(I used freshly squeeze thick coconut milk and dilute it with small amount of water, in order to get 600ml of liquid.)

Steps:
Water chestnut layer:
1. Mix all the ingredients together in a pot until well-blended except water chestnuts.
2. Cook over low fire until it thicken and bubbles appeared, stir at all time.
3. Add in the diced water chestnuts, stir well and remove from fire.
4. Spoon water chestnuts mixture into the pandan casings and lightly knock it on the table top to even out the surface.

Coconut layer:
1. Mix all the ingredients together in a pot until well-blended.
2. Cook over low fire until it thicken and bubbles appeared, stir at all time.
3. Remove from fire.
4. Spoon coconut mixture into the half filled pandan casings and lightly knock it on the table top to even out the surface.
5. Leave it aside to cool then chill them in the fridge.

Pandan casings:
1. Peel off blades of pandan leaves and wash them.
2. Trim away the thick, hard end.
3. Give a half snip on the leaf about 4.5cm long each. (refer to the 1st and 2nd photo)
4. Fold the pandan leaf inward by over-lapping one another.
5. Use a thin toothpick to secure the casing. (I didn't use any toothpick as it will tear the leaf.)