Asam Gumpal (Sago Balls in Sweetened Coconut Milk)

Today is so sunny and hot outside...I made a batch of Korabiedes cookies yesterday and by midnight, it all gone...(second batch, coming soon)So I need to make something to munch for tea.. it is really hot and dry.. so i think I'm gonna make something comes with liquid.. so many choices .Here comes the sweet little white one... the Asam Gumpal..

It is one of many traditional delicacies where you can rarely find in normal days but this dessert is really popular during Ramadhan especially in East Coast of peninsular Malaysia.It is a chewy sago ball with sweet green bean filling and sweetened coconut milk as kuah/gravy.Easy to make with cheap ingredients.

Ingredients green bean filling:

1/2 cup green bean
2 ½ cup water
1/3 cup sugar or less as your preference
pinch of salt

Cook the beans on medium heat.Keep stirring once a while to prevent from from the beans stick to bottom of the pot.Off the heat when all the liquid dries out.Let it cool.

The beans will become a bean paste when it cools down as it soaks up all the excess liquid in the pot.

Ingredients for sago dough:
1 cup of sago/tapioca pearls
1/2 cup of hot water but not boiling

Rinse the sago, strain it and place it into a bowl.Then, add the hot water and stir it well.Now you can see the sago became a quite sticky dough.

Take the sago dough and form into a ball shape.Flatten it and fill in the bean paste in the middle.
Fold the dough and crimp the edges.

How to make the kuah/gravy?

1 cup of coconut milk
3 cups of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 inch of sliced ginger
1/2 of shallots or small onion ,sliced
1/2 tsp fenugreek
a screwpine leaf
pinch of salt

The fenugreek

Mix all the ingredients in a pot..Knot a screwpine leaf and place it in.This will give a beautiful fragrance to the kuah.Put all the sago balls into the kuah then you can turn on the stove at medium heat.Keep stirring the kuah or the coconut milk might split about 15 - 20 mins.You know that it's done when all the sago balls are floating to the surface.This dessert best served when it has cooled.