Dodol, a traditional Malay sweet is typically served during Hari Raya. The consistency of this sweet dessert is similar to toffee. In Melaka and Johor, dodol is easily available throughout the year.
The process of making dodol the traditional way is quite complicated hence it requires a very high level of patience. Often, the making of dodol is tasked to the elderly as it takes great emphasis on expertise and they are also accustomed to using traditional stoves.
Basically, dodol is made from coconut milk, glutinous rice flour, palm sugar, water and salt. All these ingredients will be blended in a huge wok through a stirring method over an open flame that lasts continuously for about 3 to 4 hours. It takes a lot of energy to stir the concoction due to its thick consistency and the most dreadful is it burns easily due to its high sugar content. The end result however is deliciously thick, stretchy and sweet confectionary that most Malaysians love.
However, with modern technology, we can simplify the cooking process and cut short the time to just under an hour.
I’m going to share how to make dodol using my most trusted pressure cooker. If you do not have a pressure cooker, fret not, you can still make this using your ordinary wok. However, you’ll be stirring for at least an additional half an hour.
It is also important to boil the sugar with lots of pandan leaves to get thick and fragrant syrup. I also added more pandan leaves while cooking the batter, because you can never have enough of this fragrant leaves with countless health benefits. Did you know pandan leaves help in pain relief especially headache, cramps, arthritis and stomach inflammations? It also detoxifies our liver, hence the reason you see me including pandan leaves in my cooking at every opportunity I get.
Check out my past recipes with pandan leaves:
Now, let’s take a look at how easy it is to make dodol the modern way.
Authentic Dodol
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 280 g brown sugar (1 1//2 cup)
- 190 ml water (3/4 cup)
- 4-5 pcs pandan leaves
- 110 g glutinous rice flour 1 cup
- 500 ml coconut milk from one whole freshly grated coconut
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp lime water (air kapur) for shine
Instructions
- In a pot, combine brown sugar and water. Original recipe calls for a mix of palm sugar and white sugar, but I simplify it by using only brown sugar which tastes just as nice. It is healthier, too.
- Cut some pandan leaves and bring to a boil until sugar dissolved and the syrup is fragrant.
- If you have a pressure cooker, you can use it to boil the syrup in just 5-8 minutes.
- Pour some hot water into freshly grated coconut. Squeeze it until you get 500ml coconut milk.
- In a bowl, combine glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, salt and just a little lime water. Lime water helps to enhance the shine of the dodol.
- Add brown sugar syrup into the flour mixture.
- Pour batter through a strainer into a pot.
- Cut more pandan leaves into the batter.
- If you have a pressure cooker, cover the pot and set to STEAM mode for 10 minutes. This will help to cut short the cooking time by at least 15 to 20 minutes.
- Once done, remove cover and set to SAUTE mode. Stir for 20 minutes until the texture is thick and doesn't stick to the pot.
- During the first 5 minutes, the batter will look lumpy. Keep stirring.
- The next 10 minutes, the batter will start to be smooth.
- 15 minutes in, the consistency of the batter will be thicker, darker and less sticky.
- By 20 minutes, the batter won't stick to the pot and is almost ready.
- At this point, turn off the heat and remove pandan leaves. The pandan leaves should not stick to the batter by now.
- Once all the pandan leaves have been removed, turn on the heat again and stir for another 5-10 minutes until batter is shiny.
- The dodol is ready when you are able to cut the batter with a plastic knife without it sticking to the knife.
- Remove from the pot and place on a plate lined with banana leaves.
- Allow to cool before cutting into bite-sized pieces. You may wrap them individually in food grade plastic for easier storage.
Here’s the tutorial video:
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