Gendang Kasturi

Now don't be afraid of the name.These are simply sweet mung bean fritters Malaysian style.The cooked whole moong are mixed with sweetneer and coconut and optionally pandan leaves and are dipped in a batter and deep fried.'Gendang' stands from 'Drum' and Kasturi means 'mask' or depending on the sentences it can also be taken to mean 'trap'. Rather we can say the mung beans are sweetened and encased in a drum like trap/case. Thats the closest translation I could find regarding the name.I do not know Malay and do not think I will be mastering it. :).Whatever it is if you feel this dish is similar to the 'sukhiyan' (Kerala style green gram fritters) or moolik/muleek as it is called in Konkani,then do not blame me,just enjoy the sweet.

I found several recipes for this- mostly in Malay language and have adapted mine from here and here. These are also known as kuih rengas (kuih = snack; rengas I do not know) or Cucur kacang (Cucur = fried; kacang / kacang hijau = dried mung beans) etc. These are supposed to be equally famous in Singapore and Indonesia as well.

Ingredients:
Whole green Mung / Green Gram : 1/4 cup
Fresh grated coconut: 2-3 tbsp
Sugar: 3-4 tbsp +/-

Batter:
Rice Flour: 1/2 cup +/-
Turmeric Powder: a pinch
Salt: a pinch
Water

Oil for Deep frying

Preparation:

Cook the mung beans till soft and mushy.This can be done in a pressure cooker or stove top and I did the former.Mix sugar and coconut to mung and continue to cook it on stove top stirring it (so that it does not burn and stick to the pan) and lightly mashing it till turns into a completely dry and sweet mass. This filling will be non sticky and you should be able to shape patties from this.Make small patties by pinching out handful from the green mass.

Prepare the batter by adding salt,turmeric and water to the rice flour.Here you can go for a thin or thick batter depending on taste.
Dip the patties in to the batter and deep fry in hot oil in batches if needed.Drain on paper towels and serve as a snack.

The green gram fritters remind me of sukhiyan /muleeku.I enjoyed it and a fresh warm batch is off to AWED:Malaysia an event by DK and currently at Annarasa.

Apam Balik

Apam Balik or turnover pancake is one of the national dessert of Malaysia.Apam means thin cake while balik means back/turn over or turned over in this case.It is supposed to have originated from Chinese influence and is popular throughout the peninsula.It is also known as Marthabak manis in Indonesia.It is a yeasted pancake which is panfried and filled with peanuts,sugar,optionally creamed corn,butter,sesame seeds or whatever you like.These days several yeastless version with baking powder and soda are available.I had got the recipe from here and I have adapted it by making it vegan.There are several versions available though and the yeasted version can be found here.

The recipe I followed was perfectly simple with milk and eggs which I respectively replaced with soymilk and Ener G egg and made it vegan.Instead of Ener G egg replacer,you can even use cornstarch mixed in water or even soy yoghurt or whizzed tofu can be used to replace the egg replacer.

Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour :1 cup
Baking Powder: 1 tsp
Baking Soda: 1 tsp
Sugar: 4 tbsp +/- as per taste

Egg:1 lightly beaten
(I used Ener G egg where 1 egg = 1.5 tsp of Ener G + 3 tbsp of water/soymilk)
Milk/Soymilk: 1 cup

Yellow colouring:2 or drops or 1 big pinch yellow colour powder
Vanilla extract: 1/2 tsp

Filling:
Crushed toasted peanuts: several handfuls. I used honey roasted peanuts
Sugar
Creamed corn, sesame seeds ,bananas etc : optional I did not use

Preparation:

In a bowl mix together the flour,sugar,soda and baking powder.Add to this ,soymilk and EnerG egg and colouring and vanilla and mix well such that there are no lumps in the batter which looks like

Heat a non stick pan (optionally spray/drizzle little oil on it) and pour 2-3 big ladles of batter to it.Gently rotate the pan such that the batter runs to the sides as well.Allow it to cook.After 1 minute or so bubbles may appear on the surface like..

Add crushed peanuts and sugar and it looks like...

When the sides start browning and finish cooking,turn the pancake half over the other and remove from fire .It looks like...

I was under the impression that since only one side is cooked,it may taste a bit raw but no it turned out perfectly cooked and was soft and spongy. Cut into pieces and serve as a delicious dessert.It looks like...

The lovely yet simple Apam balik is onway to IAVW:Malaysian by Vaishali of Holycow.

The pancake were nutty as expected.This is the first time I had used EnerG in a pancake .Those who like sweet panckaes will definitely love this but those who prefer the savoury and vegan version can can be found at Vaishali's HolyCow.

Cucur Kodok

Cucur in Malay language means 'fried'.Kodok means 'toad' or 'toad-shaped'.This dish is a part of Malaysian kuih or snacks usually fingerfoods.There are several snack cakes and pastries in Malaysia,but usually fried .Now this dish is also known as Cekodok ,Kuih Kodok,Cucur Pisang etc and is made of mashed bananas (or pisang in Malay) and wheat/Allpurpose Flour.Now There are several versions some containing egg,milk etc.while searching I found several versions some vegan as well and adapted this one which is eggless and has coconut to add a little crunch to it.

Ingredients:
Bananas: 2 big bananas preferably overripe.
Sugar: 2 tbsp +/-
Coconut flakes: 2 tbsp
Wheat Flour: 8 tbsp +/-
Salt: a pinch

Water: optionally 4 tbsp +/-

Preparation:
Peel and mash the bananas in a big bowl.You can mash it chunkily allowing bite size pieces.Mix in sugar,coconut,salt to it.

Add wheat flour 4 tbsp at a time and mix well so that the banana mash is fully coated in this and a batter starts to form.Add in water little by little to obtain a thick yet pourable batter.Actually if you like you can make it runny as well as I have seen here.Or if your bananas are too overripe then no need to add water at all.I went for a thick batter and added around 2-4 tbsp of water to obtain the batter.

Heat oil in a big frying pan.Drop sccopfuls of batter into hot oil and deep fry till golden brown.Drain on paper towels and serve as a snack.

Now after reading the recipe and seeing the picture,if you are finding it familiar then ofcourse it is familiar.It is none other than sweet banana fritters in a different way.It is similar to fried modaks that we make during Ganesh Chathurthi or the Kerala road side popular snack of 'pazham pori' this is the Malaysian way of doing the fritters.It is also similar to Pisang Goreng an Indonesian snack of cut,battered and fried bananas.So its small (and similar) world after all.

The chunks in the fritters along with the little coconut add a bite to the dish.The fritters are supposed to be like toad or small frogs hence the name kodok(toad in Malay).The fritters are on way to IAVW:Malaysian hosted by Vaishali of HolyCow.