Glutinous rice is cooked with aromatic palm sugar and coconut cream and then pressed into a baking pan and cut into diamond shape. A very simple yet delicious snack or kuih that is popular in Indonesia. The recipe is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.
Line a square or round pan with parchment paper on the bottom
Pressure cook the glutinous rice with Instant Pot:
There's no need to soak the rice if you use a pressure cooker. Simply put the rice with water in a pan, preferably something that conducts heat well like aluminum or stainless steel. Make sure the rice is completely covered by the water or they won't cook properly. Place on top of a trivet. Pour in 1 cup of water in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to "sealing". Press "pressure cook" and make sure it's on high pressure. Set the timer to 15 minutes then wait 10 minutes before releasing pressure. I also have a reader who shared with me that she pressure cooked for 4 minutes and it worked for her too.
If cooking glutinous rice on the stove:
Soak the glutinous rice for at least 4 hours. Discard the soaking water. Place the rice on a steaming rack or dish and steam over high heat for 30 minutes or until the rice is soft and sticky
Make the palm sugar syrup:
If you use palm sugar blocks, cut them into smaller pieces first. Place all ingredients for palm sugar syrup, except for coconut cream, in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Cook until the sugar melts. Stir in the coconut cream. Do not boil the coconut cream or it will "break" and make the mixture frothy. Once the sugar melts, you can strain the mixture to get rid of any impurities (if using palm sugar blocks). Discard the pandan leaves and pour it back into the saucepan
Put everything together:
Add the cooked glutinous rice into the saucepan and continue to cook over low heat and stir until the rice absorbs the syrup. It should turn very sticky and no more visible liquid. You can have a taste and see if it's sweet enough for you. Add more sugar if you need to and continue to cook until sugar melts and absorbs by the rice, may take about 10 minutes or so. They will still appear soft and gooey when it's warm
Pour this sticky gooey rice mixture into the lined pan and spread it evenly as much as you can using a rubber spatula. Use another piece of parchment paper to cover the top and use your palm to press the sticky rice down. Make sure to really pack it down as much as you can. You can also use a dough scraper to help you make the surface of the cake flat and even
Let the cake cools down completely, may take 3-4 hours before cutting the cake
Serving:
Use a plastic knife to cut the cake into the desired size. Wajik is usually cut into diamond/rhombus shape in Indonesia
Video
Notes
You can use dark brown sugar but the color will be much lighter compared to if you use coconut sugar or gula Jawa/gula Aren/gula Melaka.