KUALA KRAI: Durian is always in high demand whenever it is in season.
Seeing its potential, a traditional Malay kuih maker, Siti Khazanah Mohd Nordin, 52, came up with a recipe using durian of the Musang King variety called “Musang King Berendam” in Ramadan last year.
Speaking to Bernama, Siti Khazanah said she was inspired by a popular traditional Malay kuih, “badak berendam” (literally translated as soaking hippo, made with glutinous rice flour), to come up with the dessert.
She said she used the flesh of the durian made into a paste in place of red bean paste to make badak berendam as the filling.
“I also put Musang King paste in the topping,” she said when met in Kampung Chuchuh Puteri here yesterday.
Siti Khazanah said the ingredients to make the kuih are easy to find, such as glutinous rice flour, gula melaka (palm sugar), coconut milk and pandan leaves.
“There are three stages in the process of making the kuih. The first step is to cook the durian paste until it is dried before the paste is made into small balls.
“The second step is to mix glutinous rice flour with water and to knead the dough thoroughly before boiling it.”
The cooked dough is then made into large round shapes before the small balls of durian paste are inserted into them, Siti Khazanah added.
She said the third process is to prepare the topping by mixing the paste, coconut milk, gula melaka and pandan leaves, adding that once it is cooked, the topping will be poured on the round-shaped kuih, soaking it, hence the name.
Siti Khazanah, who also owns a 16ha Musang King durian orchard, said the dessert she created is sold at RM5 per pack.
“I have received almost 100 bookings for ‘Musang King Berendam’ from villagers for Ramadan,” she added.