Savory and Sweet Steamed Glutinous Rice with Coconut and Black Eye Peas

Licuala leaves are generally used to make ketupat pulut (square parcels of woven strips of palm leaf in which glutinous rice is boiled and served) in  Malaysia.  This savory sweet dessert has black eye pea.  Since I cannot find this particular leaf, I wrapped the glutinous rice in banana leaves which are available in the frozen section at the Asian store.      

Ingredients:
1 cup Glutinous rice (soaked overnight)
1/4 cup black eye pea (soaked for 3 hours)
1/4 cup young grated coconut
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
salt
coconut leaves cut into rounds

Directions:

Cover the beans with 1cup of water in a saucepan and a pinch of salt. Cook until soft but the bean should still retain its shape.

Mix soaked glutinous rice with 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/4 cup coconut milk.
Bring water in your steamer to boil. Line your steamer pan or bamboo basket with muslin and add the glutinous rice.  Steam until a grain of rice grain can be squished in your fingers but is still slightly firm, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and let it cool for about 5 minutes.

In a bowl mix grated coconut, a pinch of salt and the black beans. Add 1/4 cup or less to taste. This is not a very sweet dessert. It should be savory and sweet. Add the cooked glutinous rice and mix well to have the bean evenly distributed.

Cut banana leaves into circles. Put a  3 or 4 Tbs of the glutinous rice in a cone shaped banana leaf. Wrap the excess leaf under the cone and secure it with a toothpick.  Steam the cones filled with rice and beans again for 5 minutes. Serve slightly warm.