Last year, I was told that I could buy the best ketupat pulut at Simpang Tiga here on the eve of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, not available on other days – one day only in a year so I went and bought some home. Unfortunately, though it tasted great, very lemak (rich in santan/coconut milk), it was over-soft, almost soggy and too sticky so I was kind of disappointed and for that reason, this year, I did not bother to go and buy anymore.
However, this time around, my missus went and bought the empty shells from the market to make our own at home…
…and yes, they were very nice. I sure enjoyed eating them with kaya (coconut jam).
We still had quite a lot left in the fridge that day so I decided to make some minced beef satay sauce to eat them with and these were the ingredients that I had…
– some minced beef, one finely chopped Bombay onion and two tomatoes, also finely chopped, two stalks of serai (lemon grass), bruised at the ends and a can of satay sauce.
I fried the onion and serai in a bit of oil before adding the tomatoes…
…and then, the beef…
I did taste the sauce at this juncture and I thought it was very nice – would be great if used as a pasta sauce. From what I gathered from Peter, the Payung boss, I think this is quite close to theirs except that I think they have garlic in theirs plus he said that they would add some Italian herbs, just that he never specified which.
Finally, I added the satay sauce…
…and simmered till it was a bit dry and I had it with the aforementioned ketupat pulut…
It was all right – I did not think it was all that compatible with the mildly-sweet santan-rich ketupat…
I am sure it would be much nicer with the plain ones…or bread or rice or even with pasta…
…or with the taco shells we had that day or in those wraps, available at the supermarkets but we can’t have those as they are not gluten free.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Ooo yes I think that would work as a variation for beef bolognese too. Looks very rich and flavour-packed 🙂
They should go well together, savoury plus plain pasta. It did not seem to go all that well with the richness and the sweetness of the santan in the ketupat – a clash of flavours.
Your minced meat satay sauce looks good but I think I enjoy the ketupat more with just kaya/sugar which I used to do all these while.
Nice with kaya, condensed milk or sugar – sweet and sweet, more compatible. The satay sauce was great with rice so it should be good with the regular plain ketupat, not these lemak ones.
Have yet to try ketupat with kaya, must try out with kaya one of these day…
Make sure it is not ordinary plain ketupat, ya! Must be these lemak ones, ketupat pulut, cooked in santan.
I love a nice lemak Ketupat. Had a good one in my Hubby’s staff house this year. She cooked and baked very well. I loved her kek lapis and cooking especially daging masak hitam and rendang kuning.
I had really good ones at my cousin’s house, his wife made their own…but they are not celebrating this year – enjoying themselves in Korea.
It’s nice you can buy empty ketupat shells to make ketupat for yourself. First time I’ve heard of such a thing.
Yes, my mum used to buy those shells from the wet market here to cook those ketupat lemak. I did not see them for a long time but then again, I wasn’t really looking. My missus said there were a lot of people selling them during Ramadan and before Hari Raya.
home made ketupats, skilful! and satay sauce, my favourite!
Easy to cook, using canned satay sauce. Can give it a try. They do have ketupat pulut sold in packs at the supermarkets now, not just those plain ketupat. Yet to buy them to try though so I don’t know if they are any good.
Oh didn’t know that they sell the shells too
They do, or here, at least. People like us who do not know how to weave those would welcome that very much.
I must try your satay sauce beef as it looks really good!
Just don’t eat it with ketupat pulut, not a great match.
Ketupat pulut.. hmm… I wonder if it is any same with lemang?
No, these are boiled in santan. Lemang is in bamboo, cooked standing beside a big fire and pulut panggang is wrapped in banana leaves, cooked over hot burning charcoal…like satay. All different.
There are times you really have to do it at home, things you buy outside may not be the best and better stick in making your own one. Very impressive I say
Yes, anytime better when we make our own at home. Problem is we do not know how to weave those shells so we can only make when we see the empty ones sold at the market here.