The green furry balls

Remember how i mentioned about craving ondeh ondeh in my last post. I was craving for these "green furry balls" (what my SILs call them before committing its actual name to memory) so much so that I went out the next day, got all the ingredients and made it on the same day. It turned out that Beck had to leave earlier for another appointment so I decided to shift my ondeh ondeh making session to Mum and Dad's place. Its really great having some many SILs cos there will always be one who will be willing and interested in what I do. This time, Jess, the fashionable SIL, was my willing helper. She actually did most of the work aside from preparing the dough while I went about taking pictures which I never seem to be able to take if I'm doing this all by myself. More and more, I actually am enjoying being part of a big family and having so many people to share my desserts with.

Anyways, I got this recipe from Lily's Wai Sek Hong. It was all good except for the part of incorporating the cooked tapioca flour into the rice flour. The cooked tapioca flour was had a very glue like texture and was impossible to get it to absorb any of the rice flour. Maybe I might have overcooked it. Might try it next time or if u want to be really safe, just use a sweet potato ondeh ondeh recipe. I made those before years ago and they were definitely easier to prepare. So for this time, I modified on the spot and the ondeh ondeh came out yum yum yum.

Ondeh Ondeh



270 g glutinous rice flour
55 g tapioca flour
2/3-3/4 cup of coconut milk (use light coconut milk to make it less sinful- I used coconut cream and diluted it with water)
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp pandan paste (I bought mine from the Asian market- it's impossible to get fresh pandan here)
1 pot of boiling water 1 cup dessicated coconut (mix it in about 1/2 cup coconut milk and a pinch of salt. Steam for 5-10mins - this is the next best alternative to fresh coconut)

Filling (combine together in a small mixing bowl):


100g gula Melaka or palm sugar (chopped into small pieces (like really small)
1 tbsp soft brown sugar


Start boiling water in a medium sauce pan as ondeh ondeh dough dries quickly and might become quite crumbly.

In a medium bowl,mix sifted glutinous rice flour with tapioca flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add 2/3cup of coconut milk and add more until well absorbed.

Gradually add in salt and pandan paste. Stir well and transfer it to a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth and firm dough. If the dough is too wet, add a little more glutinous rice flour. If its too dry, add a little more coconut milk, 1 tbsp at a time.

Roll dough into a long cylinderical shape, cut into small pieces and form into 2.5cm size (approx. 1tsp) balls. Indent the middle of each ball and put 1/2 tsp filling in the centre and roll to form ondeh ondeh. Cover the rest of the ondeh ondeh dough with a damp towel.

Drop ondeh ondeh balls (approx 6-8 balls at a time) into the boiling water. Reduce to medium heat. Once cooked, the balls will float. Let it cook for a couple more minutes to melt the sugar within.

Remove balls with a straining ladle (those with holes) making sure it is well drained. Toss it in the prepared coconut and they are good to go!



They are best served warmed and freshly cooked since this type of ondeh ondeh tends to harden up when cooled or exposed to air for an extended period of time. The tapioca flour added gave the ondeh ondeh a chewier texture which was what I wanted. Make sure you boil it an extra min or two to melt the sugar within. We were so eager to eat them that we took them earlier than required. And ended up with balls with crunchy fillings. Still nice but I prefer the filling to explode in my mouth.

I doubled the recipe and it was more than enough to feed about 12 people. You can even have it with a cup of coffee for a more aussie afternoon tea snack.

It's lime season again and I managed to get my hands on a 5kg box of Tahitian limes at the fruit and veg market! I made some lime and lemon curd in SG but they are just too bitter. But these lime are simply BEAUTIFUL!!!! Not bitter but really tangy. Whatmore, they are absolutely easy to make using just eggs, sugar and lime. This was a batch that I made to go with some pikelets for youth group. Brought a tub of it and was gone within minutes!