Recipes from our kitchen
Petulo
Steamed rice flour cakes with warm coconut and palm sugar sauce
Traditional Indonesian sweet
Soft rice flour cakes made by hand
Petulo is a traditional Indonesian sweet made from rice flour, coconut milk and tapioca flour.
The warm dough is pressed through a special petulo maker, creating its beautiful noodle-like pattern, and then gently steamed.
We serve Petulo with a warm sauce made from coconut milk, palm sugar and fragrant pandan leaves.
It is a wonderful example of how a few simple local ingredients can become something very special.
Petulo
Ingredients
- • 200 g rice flour
- • 375 ml coconut milk
- • 50 g tapioca flour
- • Salt, to taste
Palm sugar coconut milk sauce
- • 125 g palm sugar
- • 500 ml coconut milk
- • Pandan leaves
- • Salt, to taste
Tools
- • Non-stick pot
- • Petulo maker
- • Steamer
Step by step
How to make Petulo
-
1
Put the rice flour and coconut milk into a non-stick pot. Mix well until there are no lumps.
-
2
Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously.
-
3
When the mixture starts to thicken, reduce the heat to low.
-
4
Keep stirring until the mixture is cooked and no longer sticks to the pan.
-
5
While the mixture is still hot, add the tapioca flour and mix well until fully combined.
-
6
Put a small amount of dough into the Petulo maker and press to shape one piece of Petulo.
-
7
Continue shaping the dough, keeping any dough you are not currently using covered so it does not dry out and become hard.
-
8
Once all the dough has been shaped, steam the Petulo for 10 minutes.
Dewi's tip
Help the Petulo keep its shape
During the 10 minutes of steaming, briefly open the steamer lid every 2½ minutes — four times in total. This helps the Petulo keep its distinctive shape.
Palm sugar coconut milk sauce
How to make the sauce
-
1
Put the palm sugar and coconut milk into a pot.
-
2
Add the pandan leaves and a little salt.
-
3
Stir well and cook over medium heat until the sauce comes to a boil.
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4
Remove from the heat and serve warm with the freshly steamed Petulo.
How we serve it
Serve the freshly steamed Petulo with warm coconut milk, palm sugar and pandan sauce.
Cook with us in Bali
Want to make Petulo yourself?
Join our evening cooking class at Oemah Tepi Sawah and discover traditional Balinese and Indonesian recipes together with us.
Discover Our Cooking Class