Cakes & Bread
Kue Dongkal (Betawi Steamed Rice Flour and Palm Sugar Cake)
Prep
25 min
Cook
25 min
Servings
8
Level
Medium
Kue dongkal, a rare and historically rich Betawi snack! It's a steamed cake made from coarse rice flour layered with palm sugar, shaped into a cone using a banana leaf mold. Its texture is grainier than a typical steamed cake — and that's exactly what makes it special. This traditional Betawi ceremonial treat is becoming harder and harder to find.
🧂 Ingredients
🍽️ Servings: 8
Adjust the servings and the ingredient amounts & nutrition below update automatically.
- 300g coarse rice flour (not the finely ground kind)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 200ml pandan leaf water
- 150g finely grated palm sugar
- 100g semi-mature grated coconut, steamed with a pinch of salt
- Banana leaves for the cone molds
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👩🍳 Instructions
- 1 Mix the coarse rice flour with the salt
- 2 Pour in the pandan water little by little while rubbing it into the flour with your hands — the texture should be like damp, coarse sand that can be pressed into a clump
- 3 Shape banana leaves into cone-shaped molds, pinning them closed with a small bamboo skewer or toothpick
- 4 Fill a third of the cone mold with the flour mixture and pack it down
- 5 Sprinkle with grated palm sugar
- 6 Add another layer of flour mixture and pack it down
- 7 Sprinkle with more palm sugar
- 8 Top off with flour mixture until the mold is full, packing it down
- 9 Arrange the cones in a steamer pot
- 10 Steam over high heat for 20-25 minutes
- 11 Remove from the steamer and unwrap the banana leaves
- 12 Roll the cakes in or sprinkle them with the steamed grated coconut
- 13 Serve warm
💡 Tips
• Coarse rice flour is the defining feature of dongkal — don't use super-fine rice flour
• The banana leaf cone molds need to be wrapped fairly tightly so they don't leak while steaming
• It's most authentic when bought at a Betawi market, but you can make it yourself with a bit of patience
📊 Nutrition Facts / serving
155
Calories (kcal)
2g
Protein
4g
Fat
30g
Carbs
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