Inandila

Ingredients

Measure and prepare everything before you begin cooking.

• 250 g dry glutinous rice flour, not regular rice flour or wet galapong
• 190 ml warm water, plus up to 30 ml more only if needed for the dough
• 2 g fine salt
• 10 ml neutral cooking oil, for lightly greasing leaves
• 10 clean food-grade banana-leaf rectangles, about 20 × 25 cm, softened before use
• 400 ml unsweetened coconut cream, for the coconut curds
• 40 g brown sugar
• 30 ml water, for dissolving the sugar (separate from dough water)
• Water for steaming, kept below the steamer rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash and wipe the food-grade banana leaves. Soften stiff leaves briefly over gentle heat or in hot water, using tongs, then dry. Check for splits and lightly brush one side with the measured oil. Set up a steamer with space below its rack for boiling water.

2. 2

   Pour coconut cream into a wide heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook over medium-low heat for about 25–40 minutes, stirring more frequently as oil separates and curds form. Once the curds turn golden brown, remove from the heat promptly; they continue darkening in the hot oil.

3. 3

   Drain curds through a fine metal sieve over a heatproof bowl and reserve the oil for another use. In the emptied saucepan heat the 40 g sugar with the separate 30 ml water for 2–3 minutes, stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat and fold in all the drained coconut curds. Set aside; do not add this mixture to the dough.

4. 4

   While the cream simmers, mix flour and salt in a bowl. Stir in the 190 ml warm dough water using a spoon, then knead once safe to handle. Add reserved water only in 5 ml amounts until the dough is soft and pliable, not sticky or cracked. Do not taste raw dough.

5. 5

   Divide the actual dough weight into 10 equal portions, about 44–47 g each. On the oiled leaves flatten each into an elongated shape about 10 cm long and no more than 8 mm thick. Fold leaves around the cakes without squeezing tightly. Arrange in one layer on the rack, leaving spaces for steam; use two steamer tiers if needed.

6. 6

   Bring steamer water to a boil, cover and steam for about 35–40 minutes. Keep water below the rack, topping up carefully with boiling water as needed. Open one cake carefully: the centre should be cohesive and chewy with no dry, chalky flour layer. Steam longer in 5-minute increments if needed.

7. 7

   Rest for about 10 minutes until safe to handle, unwrap and spoon the sweetened coconut curds over the cakes. Leaves are not eaten. Serve warm. Cooking time assumes all 10 cakes fit in one steamer load; allow another full steaming cycle if a second load is needed.