-
1
Combine the thick coconut milk and the gula melaka in a heavy-based pot — cast iron or enamelled steel — over moderate heat, choosing a heavy base so the heat spreads evenly and gives you time to catch any catching before it colours the batch. Stir steadily until every trace of palm sugar has dissolved and the liquid is uniformly deep brown. The surface will appear smooth and the colour consistent throughout.
-
2
Whisk the glutinous rice flour into the thin coconut milk until no lumps remain, because any clot of dry flour carried into the hot pot will cook into a hard pellet that no amount of stirring will break apart later. With the pot still over moderate heat and stirring continuously, pour this slurry into the palm sugar mixture in a thin, steady stream so the flour is absorbed gradually rather than seizing in a sudden mass. The mixture will thicken visibly as the last of the slurry is incorporated.
-
3
Reduce heat to the lowest possible setting and stir continuously in a figure-eight pattern that traverses the entire base of the pot, so no area rests against the heat long enough to scorch while the rest of the batch is still fluid. This is where the dish lives or dies: stopping for even 60 seconds at temperature produces a scorched, bitter patch on the pot floor that spreads through the entire batch within minutes; share the stirring across multiple cooks working in rotation. Continue without interruption for 3 to 5 hours, and watch for the mixture to gradually darken to a deep, near-black brown and stiffen markedly — both signs that enough moisture has driven off and the sugars have concentrated as they should.
-
4
Test for doneness by dropping a small spoonful onto a cool plate — this cools the sample quickly so you read the set texture of the finished confection, not the behaviour of hot, still-mobile mass. When the dodol holds its shape without running and peels cleanly off the plate once set, the reduction is complete. A wooden spoon stood in the centre of the pot should remain upright.
-
5
Pour or spoon the finished dodol into a greased tray or into banana leaf cups, working quickly while the mass is still pliable enough to level, as it stiffens rapidly on contact with a cool surface. Smooth the surface and leave undisturbed at room temperature for several hours so the set is even throughout rather than firm on the outside and yielding in the centre. When fully set, the surface will be glossy and the confection firm to the touch; cut into squares and wrap in banana leaf.