Nonya Kaya

I have made kaya a couple of times…

Simply because my family lovesss kaya. And it is SO simple to make!

I use my trusty breadmaker when it comes to making kaya(I use the ‘jam’ function which only takes 1 hour!), but if you don’t have a breadmaker, you can cook it over the stove(though you may have to stand there and stir constantly as you don’t want it to burn!) or you may use a slowcooker(but you have to stir often too and this is definately a longer process- taking almost 5-7 hours)

This time round, I made kaya for my mum’s friend. She mentioned to my mum that she loves kaya, but doesn’t like the kinds that you can buy from Ya Kun or Killiney Kopitiam because they were too sweet for her liking. And my mum told her that I make kaya for the family and often use lesser sugar for a healthier kaya(well, actually, kaya is pretty unhealthy with all the eggs and coconut milk, but every thing in moderation is fine…)

And so, my mum went out and bought lots of eggs, pandan leaves and coconut milk and commissioned me to make a big batch of kaya for her friend… haha…

It’s actually very very simple.

Ingredients you need:

1 cup Coconut milk
1 cup Eggs(about 3-4 medium to large size eggs)
1 cup sugar(already reduced from 2 cups)
10-15 pieces of pandan leaves, washed and wiped dry.

(This recipe makes roughly about 1 and 1/2 cups of kaya)

1. Wash, dry and tie up bundles of about 5 pandan leaves in each bundle(like in the pic above)
2. Measure out eggs, then beat lightly till yolk and white mixed.
3. Pour all(as in sugar, coconut milk and eggs) into breadmaker tin(like in picture above) and throw in bundles of pandan leaves.
4. Set on ‘Jam’ function.
5. Check on kaya after some time and make sure sides are mixed too.
6. When the breadmaker completes the function, take it out and cool for a while, remove all the pandan leaves, then put into a blender and blend lightly till it is smooth.

Notes:

*edited* The kaya will look like lumpy curdy chunks in a watery substance once the breadmaker has completed its cycle. This is NORMAL. You are supposed to blend it to acheive the smooth texture, ie, what we buy off the shelves. You may find that there might be quite a bit of water(this is just sugar water), so drain out some of this water and blend the remainder. You may add in more sugar water if you find your kaya too thick while blending. I hope this will iron out any misunderstandings about the product!

1. You may blend it till it is completely smooth too. I like my kaya with a bit of bits in it, so that you can taste the kaya bits rather than a smooth paste.
2. If you prefer a little sweeter, add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup more sugar.
3. If you cook this over the stove, you may not need to blend it since you are constantly stirring the kaya.
4. You may put in more pandan leaves if you want it to be greener… Alternatively, you may pound or blend a portion of the pandan leaves and strain it for the pandan juice and put it into the mixture before cooking.
5. If you’re cooking over the stove, the pot you’re using should NOT be warm/hot when you place the ingredients in to mix. If the pot is hot, the eggs would cook immediately, resulting in scrambled eggs!

*Ask questions if you need help! Just leave me a comment and I’ll try to help!