Ganesh's Birthday Celebration Fresh Coconut Sago Dessert
It has been a while since my last post but the last few months have been so hectic and I have not had much time to even make a cake! Today though is a day I was determined to make something since the 19th of September marks the traditional birthday of one of my favourite Hindu deities, Ganesh, the remover of obstacles.
My living circumstances are much different now since most of my kitchenware is packed waiting for shipment overseas. So I only had limited tools to work with and limited ingredients. This dessert contains no dairy and no eggs and thus can be offered to Ganesh. It does take a bit of time to prepare the coconut and sago but all of this can be done in advance.
Ingredients
1 coconut or precut coconut pieces
300g sago pearls
2 cans of coconut milk
3 cans of water
12 cardamom pods
150g jaggery
Soak the sago pearls in 400ml water overnight or for at least 4 hours. They will double in size so please be sure your container is large enough.
Break open the coconut and if you have a coconut scrapper you can use this to grate the inside of half of the coconut in 5 minutes. Otherwise, you can grate the coconut with a standard grater. Set to one side. If using precut coconut, use one pack which usually amounts to half a coconut.
One a dry pan, gently roast the cardamom pods until you can smell the lovely fragrance of the seeds inside. Remove from the heat and break the pods open so you only have the seeds. Discard the shell. Grind the seeds into a powder. Sadly my pestle and mortar was packed away so I improvised with the side of a jar.
On a chopping board, thinly slice the jaggery and leave to one side. Jaggery is an unrefined sugar that typically is sold in chunks and looks like fudge. If you cannot find jaggery you could use dark brown or muscovado sugar although adjust the amount you use since these sugars are sweeter than jaggery.
Take the soaked sago and add to a large saucepan together with the coconut milk. You can use the empty cans to measure out the water needed. On a medium heat, stir the sago and coconut milk together until it begins to boil and then simmer for 15 minutes or so. You have to keep on stirring to avoid the sago sticking to the bottom and you may also need to add water in case the mixture gets too thick or you prefer a thinner texture.
Near the end of the 15 minutes you should see the sago pearls look transparent. You can add the cardamom, jaggery and coconut and stir in to combine. The sago will be transformed into a lovely caramel colour without the over sweetness of caramel.
You can serve in the empty coconut shell or otherwise enjoy either hot or cold.
