Purple Sweet Potato Balls with Coconut Sauce (Kolak Biji Salak Ubi Ungu)

Kolak is an Indonesian dessert made from boiled fruits or vegetables with palm sugar and coconut milk sauce; and it is the most favorite dessert for iftar (break the fast) during the Holy month of Ramadan because of its sweet filling and the easiness to make. Among dozens of types of kolaks, I think Kolak Biji Salak is the most popular, especially during Ramadan as every street vendors sell this dessert.

Salak (Snake Fruit) ~ Courtesy of Wikipedia

 Literally, ‘biji salak’ means ‘salak seed’ (biji = seed). Salak (Salacca zalacca) itself—known as ‘snake fruit’ in English—is a species of palm tree (family Arecaceae) native to Java and Sumatra. In real, kolak biji salak is made from mashed sweet potato tapioca flour which is shaped into small balls in (usually) palm sugar and coconut milk sauce. I think this dessert got its name from the shape of the ball which looks like a salad seed.

Usually this dessert made from yellow or orange potatoes, but this time I would like to play with the purple ones.  My daughter loves purple and I wanted to give her surprise by making some dessert in purple color without adding any food coloring. Purple sweet potato is just perfect for that.  This potato has a purple skin as well as purple flesh, which maintains its rich color when cooked.  So this is it.  Purple Sweet Potato Balls in Coconut Sauce. To my surprise, this dessert was really unbelievable. The color stands out, contrasted with the white color of coconut milk sauce. And most importantly, my daughter loved it, both the color and the taste. It’s chewy yet soft, sugary, but not overly sweet with coconut milk sauce.

If you happened to read my Cilok recipe, you will notice that the method of making this two dessert were quite similar. While cilok is lacking in nutrition (since it’s only cooked spiced dough), sweet potato balls packing a powerful nutritional punch. The main ingredient is purple sweet potatoes, and you know they have got over 400% of your daily needs for Vitamin A in one medium spud, as well as loads of fiber and potassium. They have got more grams of natural sugars than regular potato, but more overall nutrients with fewer calories. Purple sweet potatoes obtain their rich color from phytochemical, anthocyanin—antioxidant that helps to prevent diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.

So , what are you waiting for? Let’s roll the dough and enjoy the chewiness but not too overly sweet Kolak Biji Salak!

Purple Sweet Potato Balls with Coconut Sauce (Kolak Biji Salak Ubi Ungu)

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

For the purple sweet potato balls

·         500 grams purple sweet potatoes, steamed and pureed

·         100-150 grams tapioca flour

·         1 teaspoon salt

Sugary sauce

·         1500 ml air

·         300 grams granulated sugar (palm sugar for orange sweet potato balls)

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         25 grams tapioca flour, dissolved with 3-4 tbsp of water

·         2 pandan leaves

·         1500 ml water for boiling the balls

Coconut milk sauce

·         400 ml thick coconut milk

·         200 ml warm water

·         ½ tsp salt

·         1 pandan leaf

Directions:

1.       Scrub the skin and clean of the purple sweet potatoes. Steam for 30 minutes or until soft. Test for doneness with fork (the fork should go through purple sweet potato easily).  Puree or mash the purple sweet potatoes with a masher until you get a smooth texture. Add salt and tapioca flour gradually and knead until well mixed. The dough should be soft, but not too soft.

2.       Pinch a small amount of the dough and roll it between your palms to form a 1 ½ inch ball.  The ball should be easy to roll and keep its shape.  If the ball has crack that you can’t roll out, your dough is to dry, stop adding tapioca flour and add more pureed sweet potatoes. Continue until the dough has been rolled out. Set aside.

3.       Preparing the sugary sauce: add all ingredients except tapioca flour into a pot over medium heat, stir until the sugar is dissolved. The sauce should be sweet, but not overly sweet. Low the heat.

4.       Boil a pot of water to cook the sweet potato balls. Pour all the balls into the boiling water. The cooked ones will float up. Strain the cooked balls from water and set aside.  Add the sweet potato balls into the sugary sauce and stir prevent balls from sticking to each other.

5.       Add the dissolved tapioca flour to thicken the sauce and keep stirring until the sauce is bubbled up and thicken. Let it come to a simmer and turn off the heat.

6.       Preparing the coconut milk sauce: combine all ingredient and stir until well mixed. Set aside.

7.       Serve warm or cold with coconut sauce.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

Biji salak

·         500 gram ubi ungu, kukus dan haluskan

·         100-150 gram tepung tapioka

·         1 sendok teh garam

Kuah

·         1500 ml air

·         300 gram gula pasir

·         1 sendok teh garam

·         25 gram tepung tapioka, larutkan dalam air

·         2 lembar daun pandan, ikat

·         1500 ml air untuk merebus

Saus Santan

·         400 ml santan kental

·         200 ml air hangat

·         ½ sendok teh garam

·         1 lembar daun pandan

Cara:

1.       Campur ubi ungu yang telah dihaluskan, tepung tapioka, dan garam.

2.       Bentuk bulat seperti kelereng dengan diameter sekitar 1 ½ cm. Sisihkan.

3.       Campur air, gula pasir, garam, dan daun pandan dalam panci. Rebus sampai mendidih. Kecilkan api.

4.       Sementara itu, dalam panci lain, masak air hingga mendidih dan rebus biji salak sampai mengapung. Angkat dan tiriskan, lalu masukkan ke dalam larutan gula yang masih dimasak dengan api kecil. Lakukan sampai semua biji salak habis sambil diaduk.

5.       Tambahkan larutan tapioka sambil diaduk sampai kuah meletup-letup dan kental.

6.       Saus santan: campur semua bahan, aduk. Sisihkan.

7.       Sajikan kolak biji salak dengan saus santan dalam keadaan hangat atau dingin.