Sago Pudding with Gula Melaka / Malaysian Dessert, Sago Gula Melaka.
Coming back to the stream after quite some time, say, more than 6 months because of the sad demise of my loving dad… the last recipe, Spaghetti Bolognese, I added in the blog was on 30/4/2018.
Sago is a highly nutritious food that contains high amount of Carbohydrates and a good amount of Calcium and Vitamin-C. The amount of calories in 100 grams of Sago is 351. It is known as साबूदाना in Hindi and ചവ്വരി in Malayalam. It is also called as Tapioca Pearls or seed tapioca. Those of you who are trying to reduce your body weight and those who are in fast can have food that made with Sago.
Sago Gula Melka is a simple and easy Malaysian dessert. We can call it as Sago Pudding also. You can make this recipe with minimal ingredients like Sago, Palm Sugar and Coconut Milk. The result is, you will get a yummy dessert.
Sago is known as the pearl of the east. It is available in few colours other than white sago, like green and pink. You will get saga in almost all provision stores and in some countries you can find it in the cold storage of super markets. It is a starch extracted from the spongy centre of palm trees. It is similar in appearance to pearled starch of tapioca. They remind me of white pearls.
Here, Pandan leaves are optional. It is also known as Screw Pine Leaves. It is a fragrant plant, known in Malayalam as Rambha yila. It is one of the ingredients we use mostly in Biriyanis.
I am obliged to my friend Beena Varghese for this recipe. Click Here to get all the sweet treats from the blog, Seenas Food Basket.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 199 / 0.25 cup
Ingredients for Sago Gula Melka:
Sago pearls – 1 ¼ cup + 1 tbsp.
Water – 2 ½ litres
Dark Palm Sugar – 1 ½ Cup (Jaggery)
Pandan Leaves * – 2 (optional – tied into knots)
Water – 2/3 Cup
Coconut Milk – 1 ½ Cup
Salt – a pinch
How to Make Malaysian Sago Pudding:
Roughly chop Palm Sugar and keep aside. Wash Pandan leaves, tie in to loose knots and keep it aside. Wash and rinse Sago in water.
Take a big pan and boil 2 ½ litres of water. Add the Sago and 1 Pandan Leaf (if you are using it) in to this boiling water. Cook it for 15 minutes until sago starts floating to the top or until it turned to semi translucent by stirring it continuously. Switch off the heat and close the pan with its lid. Let it rest for some time to turn the sago to completely translucent or some have only the tiniest white dot in the centre.
Take off the lid and remove the pandan leaf. Drain the sago well and rinse the cooked sago under running water using a sieve to remove any excess starch…
Take your muffin moulds or dessert glasses. Grease the tins with Vegetable oil or Butter. Fill these moulds with sago to the rim. Cover the moulds with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to chill.
Next comes the preparation of Gula Melaka Syrup (Palm Sugar Syrup). For that you need Palm Sugar and Water (2/3 cup). Take these in a small saucepan and let it come to a boil. Continue stirring it for 8 to 10 minutes or until the syrup starts thickening lightly. Set aside to cool.
Coconut Milk: You can either use readymade canned coconut milk or homemade fresh coconut milk. If you are using fresh Coconut milk, take 1 cup thin coconut milk and ½ cup of thick coconut milk. (Read the notes below). If you are using canned coconut milk, pour this into a saucepan, add Salt and 1 Pandan Leaf (cut into small bits) to it. Simmer it on low heat for 2 minutes or until you get a creamy consistency (If you want, you can also dilute it with very little Coconut Milk). Set aside to cool or chill in refrigerator for few minutes.
Serving: Unmould the sago from its mould into a serving dish or a bowl. Pour over a generous amount of Coconut Milk and top it with few tablespoons of Gula Melaka Syrup over it. Garnish it with Cloves or with any item of your choice. Now you can serve it.
My Recipe Notes on Sago Gula Melaka:
1. Watch out to buy the best Sago and the right Palm Sugar in the market. Get the dark brown paml sugar and not the light brown.
2. Stir Sago continuously while boiling to prevent it from settling to the bottom and side wall of the pan. Don’t overcook or undercook the sago. The sago will continue to cook off the heat and so if you overcook them, they will be gloopy and mushy. If it is not cooked properly, sago will be hard in the middle. If you are using the tiny sago pearls, it will slip through the holes of a colander, so use a sieve to drain it.
3. You can boil Sago either in water or in Milk.
4. Don’t forget the fact that sago is starchy and so you have to rinse the cooked sago under running water in order to reduce its stickiness.
5. Starch in Sago is too much and so don’t expect to wash away all the starch.
6. Remember to cling wrap the sago moulds, otherwise the top layer of sago will start to dry out.
7. Make sure to thicken the palm sugar syrup. Careful not to let the sugar syrup to burn.
8. Homemade coconut milk is healthier, cheaper and more delicious! For making homemade coconut milk from the shredded coconut, heat water (don’t boil), and keep it aside. Add shredded coconut in the blender and add hot water and blend well until thick and creamy. Pour through a colander and then squeeze through a cheese cloth to filter out the coconut pulp. You have the thick coconut milk. Again blend the remaining coconut pulp with equal amount of water. Sieve and squeeze through a muslin cloth again. You have the thick coconut milk.
9. Serve this sago pudding the day you make it or the next day the most. Another method of serving this is, instead of forming sago jellies, you can just mix the chilled sago and coconut milk together and pour the caramel made from palm sugar on top. Easy method, right? For this, you need more coconut milk, but it would be tastier than the sago jellies.. I am sure.. 
Happy Cooking and Happy and Prosperous Diwali to you all..
Cheers,
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Pearl Sago Pudding with Gula Melaka / Palm Sugar Syrup / Pearl of the East / Tapioca Pudding with Brown Sugar Syrup.
സാഗോ ഗുള മേളക റെസിപ്പി / ചവ്വരി.
Sago Pudding with Gula Melaka.
Description
Sago Gula Melaka is a Malaysian Dessert. Here, coconut milk and gula Melaka is drizzled over cooked and cold sago jelly to make a delicious dessert.