Putu Kacang / Mung Bean Cookies
August 14, 2012
Sweet nutty Malaysian traditional mung bean cookies!
Putu Kacang or Mung Beans Cookies is one of my 'Must Indulge' cookies... I love traditional cookies.
It's that time of the year again... time to celebrate our 'victorious' achievement after one whole month of soul searching, and soul cleansing by fasting in the month of Ramadan....and time to be with family and friends to celebrate...
and of course...
It's time to feast on Festive food like Lemang served with Beef Rendang or Serunding and indulge in Festive cookies like Samperit, Bahulu, Pineapple Tarts, Kuih Makmur, and Putu Kacang.
Years ago when I first arrived in Perth, every Eid, I'd be craving for Putu Kacang.
Who else can I turn to, but my mom.
As far as I remember, Mom didn't make any Putu Kacang before, but she has some ideas of how to or at least she must have seen how it was done when she was young!
This was what she told me over the phone:
Mom said EASY... woohoo...I was so excited... Finally, I was able to make and indulge in Putu Kacang...
I went out to the Asian Grocer... I purchased 500g mung beans without skins/membrane.
Phew, save me 1 step in separating the kernels and the membranes.
Did the frying as Mom told me.
It was yellow, so far so good.
The next step was to grind it into fine flour.
Oh Yes I did try to grind into fine flour, but...
Nearly 2 hours of grinding, and sieving, till my hands were 'shaking'.
The end result was depressing.
I managed to get less than 100g, and did a quick maths, 500g would take me at least 10 hours!
Oh No! I must be mad if I were to continue further.
First Attempt ~ #Abandon
Mom's words till ringing in my ear...
After 6 years, I had that itch to try.
Well, just one more attempt, trying to pacify myself.
After all, I could skip the grinding part as I found a 1kg packet of Mung bean flour.
But 'Success' eluded me the second time around.
Flour was not cooked thoroughly... "tasted like Beans Sprout, Mom" according to E....
Another mistake I made was,'Sprinkled' water into the mix using my fingertips, big droplets of water were making my Putu Kacang gummy...
Second Attempt ~ # Failed
Not wanting to give up... and not wanting to wait another 6 years for my next attempt... I set out to make sure that I 'fried' the flour long enough... and I introduced water into the mix by spraying using the bottle (as per the second photo)...
Third Attempt ~ # Sweet Success was MINE
Now I can enjoy my Raya indulging Putu Kacang
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Putu Kacang or Mung Beans Cookies is one of my 'Must Indulge' cookies... I love traditional cookies.
It's that time of the year again... time to celebrate our 'victorious' achievement after one whole month of soul searching, and soul cleansing by fasting in the month of Ramadan....and time to be with family and friends to celebrate...
and of course...
It's time to feast on Festive food like Lemang served with Beef Rendang or Serunding and indulge in Festive cookies like Samperit, Bahulu, Pineapple Tarts, Kuih Makmur, and Putu Kacang.
Years ago when I first arrived in Perth, every Eid, I'd be craving for Putu Kacang.
Who else can I turn to, but my mom.
As far as I remember, Mom didn't make any Putu Kacang before, but she has some ideas of how to or at least she must have seen how it was done when she was young!
This was what she told me over the phone:
Its very easy, dry roast the mung beans in a pan till it has a tinge of yellow then lightly smashed and separate the membrane from the kernel, grind into a fine flour, mix with fine sugar and sprinkle some water, press into the moulds, gently tap the Putu Kacang out of its mould and leave it under the sun to dry...
Mom said EASY... woohoo...I was so excited... Finally, I was able to make and indulge in Putu Kacang...
I went out to the Asian Grocer... I purchased 500g mung beans without skins/membrane.
Phew, save me 1 step in separating the kernels and the membranes.
Did the frying as Mom told me.
It was yellow, so far so good.
The next step was to grind it into fine flour.
Oh Yes I did try to grind into fine flour, but...
Nearly 2 hours of grinding, and sieving, till my hands were 'shaking'.
The end result was depressing.
I managed to get less than 100g, and did a quick maths, 500g would take me at least 10 hours!
Oh No! I must be mad if I were to continue further.
First Attempt ~ #Abandon
Mom's words till ringing in my ear...
After 6 years, I had that itch to try.
Well, just one more attempt, trying to pacify myself.
After all, I could skip the grinding part as I found a 1kg packet of Mung bean flour.
But 'Success' eluded me the second time around.
Flour was not cooked thoroughly... "tasted like Beans Sprout, Mom" according to E....
Another mistake I made was,'Sprinkled' water into the mix using my fingertips, big droplets of water were making my Putu Kacang gummy...
Second Attempt ~ # Failed

Not wanting to give up... and not wanting to wait another 6 years for my next attempt... I set out to make sure that I 'fried' the flour long enough... and I introduced water into the mix by spraying using the bottle (as per the second photo)...
Third Attempt ~ # Sweet Success was MINE
Now I can enjoy my Raya indulging Putu Kacang
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
oh my, seems like hard work to make this, frying, grinding, sieving, etc.... but sedap makan kan? I might make this one day just to try out too.... with hard work, you will appreciate the labour of love in it.
ReplyDeletePretty cookies and wonderful pictures! I love that mould.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
AHhh how awesome! I love hearing honest stories of ppl's failed attempts at a recipe in the kitchen (as it always happens to me!) and then sharing what they've learned along the way until they've reached the final product. Very good stuff!! I can tell your "Engineers thinking" helped you a lot in figuring out the problem and then solving it hehe!!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness it is not my 'one of must eat' cookies or else every Ramadhan, I will be crying in the kitchen trying to make them :-).
ReplyDeleteThey do seem like hard work but your putu kacang looks so tempting to make me want to try to make them one day.
Well done Lisa!
I like the story of your failed attempts, we learn a lot along the way. Beautiful mung bean cookies!
ReplyDeleteYour mung bean cookies look perfect! I actually have mung bean flour at home but too bad I don't have the mould. Will have to look for another recipe that used mung bean flour!
ReplyDeleteThese cookies look absolutely amazing and perfect:)
ReplyDeleteIm following you:)
I have a faint memory that I have tried these cookies before but somehow cannot recollect when ....
ReplyDeleteYour mung bean cookies looks so delicate and beautiful.
Mel
ReplyDeleteMemang sedap... Memang syiok :D
Rosa
Thank you :)
Winston
Its not all success in my kitchen too ;)
lemongrass
Thank you... I'll cherish every bite :D
You inspire me to make kuih gunting too ;)
Sonia
That is so true... Failures and disaster makes us a better cook... :D
Sylvia
Thank you ... perhaps other alternative mould? :)
Gloria
Thank you :)
and I followed you too :D
Tigerfish
Thank you :D
To Veronica
I was lost in translation as Mr Google was trying to translate from Italian to English ....anyway my Thank you for your comment :)
Kudos to you for this endeavour! I can't even imagine what they taste like.
ReplyDeleteThey look absolutely perfect!! :-)
ReplyDeleteWow beautiful cookies!!! Your photos are stunning Lisa! I always like your natural and little bit Asian rustic feeling of it.
ReplyDeletesaw this post @Asian Food Channel fbk page....They look so delicious.I have seen these moulds in Singapore,but didnt know the exact recipe.Hope I will be able to make these cookies....
ReplyDeleteLooks so beautiful..Never tried before. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThese are so pretty! Would love to give these a try soon.
ReplyDeleteRed Star Lone Star
ReplyDelete:D
lina_to_u
terimakasih :D
Nami
Thank you Nami... I have been wanting to 'catch' the morning sun and finally I nailed it :D
Amy
Thank you Amy for dropping by :D
Saraswathi
you are most welcome :D
Shirley
:D
These are so unique! I've never tried a cookie with mung bean flour but I'm very intrigued.
ReplyDeletebeautiful cookies Eid mubarak to you and family
ReplyDeleteSalam Sejahtera! I was amaze with your Putu Kacang and craving it for a long time. My aunty from Pekan, Pahang used to make it. I just wonder where do you get the mould. Your putu kacang look great!
ReplyDeleterosmaliza_zec@yahoo.com.au
Hi Rosmaliza
DeleteI've replied via email :D
Just wanted to say thanks for the recipe. My grandmother used to prepare the mix n i remember as kids, pressing and turning the putu kacang out. With the malaysiam weather we just dried them! I really want to try this n younhv just given me the courage to do so. Btw, your mould is gorgeous - Zaharah, Shah Alam
ReplyDeleteThanks Zaharah for visiting
DeleteIt is quite leceh to prepare since mengidam punya hal, I took up the challenge :D
Selamat mencuba :D