Khanom tan ( th, ขนมตาล; ) is a popular Thai

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

consisting of small steamed cakes flavoured with toddy palm sugar and coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaves, and topped with grated coconut. It is most often found in the provinces where

sugar palm Sugar palm is a common name for several species of palms used to produce sugar. :Species used include: *''Arenga pinnata'' (syn. ''A. saccharifera'') *''Borassus flabellifer'' *''Caryota'' :*'' Caryota urens'' *''Cocos nucifera'' See also *Toddy ...

is grown, such as

Phetchaburi Phetchaburi ( th, เพชรบุรี, ) or Phet Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phetchaburi Province. In Thai, Phetchaburi means "city of diamonds" (''buri'' meaning "city" in Sanskrit). It is approx ...

Nakhon Pathom Nakhon Pathom ( th, นครปฐม, ) is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in central Thailand, the former capital of Nakhon Pathom province. One of the most important landmarks is the giant Phra Pathommachedi. The city is also home to Thailand's ...

and

Suphanburi Suphan Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand. It covers ''tambon'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town ...

History

Khanom Tan is one of many popular Thai desserts that dates from the Sukhothai period. During that time, the main ingredients used in preparing desserts were rice flour, sugar and coconut, in contrast to desserts from the later Ayutthaya period, which are based on a mixture of eggs and sugar. Today, Khanom Tan is not well known among younger generations due to its disappearance from street markets, but it is still a popular Thai dessert outside of the

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

area.

Preparation

Khanom tan is made using a similar technique to the steamed dessert khanom kluay, the key difference being that khanom tan requires the batter to be fermented to achieve a spongy texture. Khanom tan is made from

coconut milk Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food i ...

, rice flour, a raising agent and toddy palm fruit (palm sugar). Toddy palm fruit is rich in vitamins A and C, has a strong smell when crushed, and is juicy and soft, similar to

lychee Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the Sapindus, soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (t ...

Ingredients

# 4 and ½ cups of rice flour # 1 cup of ripe sugar palm fruit (squeeze the meat) # 4 and ½ cups of coconut milk # 3 cups of sugar # 3 cups of scraped coconut (overripe) # 1 tsp. salt # 1/2 tbsp. baking powder.

How to cook

#Crush the sugar palm fruit with water in a bowl. #Put all of the juice in a filter cloth bag and squeeze. #Leave it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. #Boil coconut milk with sugar. #When it's boiling, turn off the fire and leave it cool off. #In a big bowl, mix sugar palm meat from step1 with rice flour and coconut milk from step2. #Knead well. Make sure it is really soft. #Leave it outside for 4 hours. #Put wet white cloth over top. #Cut banana leaves and shape into a small cup #Pour the mixture into the banana leaf cups, or ceramic cups if you can't make one. #Mix scraped coconut with salt and dress it over top the cake. #Steam over boiling water for 15 minutes.

References

{{Thai cuisine Thai desserts and snacks