Talam Seri Medan

When I went to the  Geylang Serai market last week, besides the cempedak, I also bought a big bunch of pisang raja. It's rare to find pisang raja in my neighbourhood market, so I couldn't resist buying a bunch after seeing a few beautiful bunches hanging from a fruit stall....

I used up most of it fry banana fritters, using the batter recipe I used for my fried cempedak. Since it's been a long time since I last made a steam kuih, I decided to make one so that I could use up all the bananas. I looked through my file & saw a couple of recipes which I'd not tried before & finally decided to try making Talam Seri Medan. The recipe is by my favourite weekend-baking instructor, Wannah Alshatrie, but this time the recipe was passed down to me by my baking kaki then. 

I'm happy with how it turns out. The banana, coconut & sugar give out a combination of wonderful flavours... The texture was good & easy to handle... but when I make this again, I would reduce the rice flour or increase the liquid for the bottom layer as I like my kuih to be a little bit soft. I'm glad I added the diced banana & green sago pearls for added texture.... the kuih looks beautiful & very appetising, don't you think..?

Talam Seri Medan

BOTTOM LAYER

Ingredients:
50g palm sugar (gula Melaka) + 25ml plain water
60g rice flour
25g tapioca or sago flour
70g granulated sugar
200ml diluted coconut milk (I used 50ml coconut milk from the box & added 150ml water.)
125g (2 medium) bananas (pisang raja or berangan) - mashed
1/2 to 1 medium banana, diced - I added.
brown colouring
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Combine palm sugar  & water  in a saucepan & cook until the sugar melts. Strain & set aside.
2. Combine palm sugar syrup, rice flour, tapioca flour, sugar, coconut milk & salt in a bowl & mix thoroughly. Strain & add in mashed & diced bananas & colouring. Mix until well-blended.
3. Pour mixture into a saucepan & cook on low fire (on the stove), stirring continuously until the mixture thickens slightly & steam starts to appear.
4. Pour mixture into a pan lined with silicone baking paper. (Read notes below.)
5. Steam for 15 minutes over medium fire. 
6. Once cook, scratch the top of kuih gently with a folk before pouring the mixture for the top layer.

TOP LAYER

Ingredients:

20g sago pearls - I added.

200ml thick coconut milk (I used 150ml coconut milk in the box & mix with 50ml water.)

35g rice flour

15g tapioca or sago flour

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Cook the sago pearls in boiling water until they become transparent. Strain & rinse under running water until they cool down. Set aside.
2. Combine coconut milk, rice & tapioca or sago flour & salt in a bowl. Mix throughly. Then strain & add in cooked sago pearls. Mix until well blended.
3. Pour mixture onto the cooked bottom layer & steam for 20 minutes.
4. Remove pan from the steamer & allow to cool completely. Cut the kuih using a plastic knife.

Notes & modifications:

1. The above recipe is only 1/4 of the original recipe.
2. I used a mess tin measuring 7 x 5 1/4 inch (18 x 13 1/2 cm ) for my kuih. You may also use  6 x 6 inch (15 x 15 cm) pan. The kuih is 3cm tall, 2cm for bottom & 1cm for the top layer. If you want to make it in a 8 x 8 inch pan, I suggest you double up the above recipe.
3. In all, I used a box (200ml) of coconut milk. 
   
4. The pan must be greased or lined so that it's easy to release the kuih from it. Traditionally, the pan is greased with oil & heated up before the kuih mixture is poured into it. Now, it's a common practice to line it with a plastic, so one only needs to lift up the plastic to release the kuih from the pan. I think that's a great idea except, I'm not comfortable with cooking with the plastic. So I would usually line my pan with silicone paper (siliconised baking paper) for my steam kuih.
5. When removing the steamer cover, lift it carefully so that water from the cover does not drip onto the cooked kuih. If there's any water dripping on the kuih, dab it gently with a kitchen paper towel or damp kitchen towel.

Recipe by Wannah Alshatrie.