Recipe of Puto Maya and Sikwate

Ingredients

• 400 g glutinous rice (malagkit), soaked for one hour and drained
• 2 tablespoons black glutinous rice (pirurutong), optional, for the purple tint
• 300 ml thick coconut milk
• 60 g muscovado or light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 4 to 6 banana leaves, passed over a flame, to line the steamer and serve
• 3 discs of pure cocoa tablea (about 30 g), or 30 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 500 ml water
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar for the sikwate
• 125 ml evaporated milk or whole milk, optional, for the sikwate
• 1 ripe mango, sliced, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. 1

   Rinse the glutinous rice, changing the water four or five times until it runs clear, and soak it for at least one hour; drain it well before use.

2. 2

   If using pirurutong, soak it in the same bowl: mixed with the white rice it gives the greyish-purple tint sold in the markets.

3. 3

   Line the base and sides of the steamer with banana leaves and spread the drained rice in an even layer.

4. 4

   Cover and steam for 20 minutes: the grains should be firm outside and still opaque in the centre.

5. 5

   While the rice steams, warm the coconut milk in a pot with the muscovado sugar, ginger and salt over medium heat, without letting it boil, until the sugar dissolves.

6. 6

   Tip the half-cooked rice into that pot and cook over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it has absorbed almost all the liquid.

7. 7

   Transfer the mixture to a mould or basket lined with banana leaf, smooth it with the spoon and cover with another leaf.

8. 8

   Return it to the steamer for 20 to 25 minutes, covered and undisturbed, until the grains are translucent and tender when bitten.

9. 9

   Take it off the heat and rest for 10 minutes with the lid on: the rice finishes setting and slices more cleanly.

10. 10

    For the sikwate, grate or chop the tablea and dissolve it in half a cup of the hot water, stirring into a smooth paste.

11. 11

    Boil the remaining water with the two tablespoons of sugar, add the cocoa paste and whisk for 4 to 5 minutes, on or off the heat, until it thickens and turns frothy.

12. 12

    Stir in the evaporated milk if using, whisk for one more minute, and serve unstrained alongside the warm puto maya on a banana leaf, with the mango on the side.