Cookbook:Khanom Tian (Thai Coconut Rice Dumplings)

Khanom Tian (ขนมเทียน) is a pyramid-shaped Chinese-Thai dessert, often served during festivals such as Sat Chin (Chinese Ghost Festival) and Chinese New Year. This dessert consists of a dough and a salty or sweet filling.

Dough

 * 100 g palm sugar
 * 2 cups coconut milk
 * 200 g glutinous rice flour

Sweet filling

 * 100 g palm sugar
 * 2 cups overripe coconut
 * 1 cup water
 * 6 large banana leaves

Dough

 * 1) Melt the palm sugar in a pan with coconut milk and cool to room temperature.
 * 2) Mix the glutinous rice flour with the coconut milk until a smooth and slightly sticky dough is formed.
 * 3) Cover the dough and let sit for 3 hours or overnight.

Filling

 * 1) Combine the palm sugar and water in a pan, and simmer until dry enough.
 * 2) Add coconut, and simmer until it is sticky.
 * 3) Let it sit for 10–15 minutes.

Assembly

 * 1) Oil your hand. Roll a 3-cm chunk of dough into a ball, and flatten it into a circle.
 * 2) Place a ball of filling into the dough. Gently fold the dough around the filling, and pinch the seams shut.
 * 3) Place the dough balls into a greased dish to prevent sticking.
 * 4) Wash the banana leaves. Use scissors to cut the leaves into two rounded sizes—one should be 16–18 cm in diameter and the others 12–14 cm in diameter.
 * 5) Place a large leaf section and a small leaf section together with the dull sides facing each other. This doubles up the leaves and makes them stronger. Do this for all the leaves.
 * 6) Fold one end of the banana leaf into a cone, and drop in the stuffed dough ball.
 * 7) Fold over the shorter side of the cone.
 * 8) Fold over both sides of the banana leaf perpendicularly to the cone seam.
 * 9) Tuck the long tail into the little slot.
 * 10) Fold over the long tail that is left, and put it into the slot. Crease the folds of the pyramid a bit to strengthen it.

Cooking

 * 1) Place all of the dumplings in a single layer into a steamer. Steam for 20–30 minutes.
 * 2) Let the dumplings cool slightly before eating.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * The video here provides a demonstration on how to shape the banana leaves during assembly.