Patoleo

Step 1: Cook 7 oz fresh coconut, 5 ½ oz dark Goan jaggery (or palm jaggery), ½ tsp ground cardamom and 1 pinch salt in a pan over a low heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until the jaggery has melted and the mixture is moist and sticky but no syrup runs. Cool.

Step 2: Drain the soaked 7 oz short-grain or idli rice and grind with just enough ¾ cup water to make a very thick, smooth paste, like soft hummus. Add 1 pinch salt. If it is runny it won't stay on the leaf; if it is too thick to spread, add a spoon of water.

Step 3: Lay a 10 fresh turmeric leaves (or banana leaf pieces) leaf on the work surface, shiny side up. With wet fingers, spread 2 tbsp of rice paste over one long half of the leaf, as thin as you can, about 2 mm, leaving a 1 cm border.

Step 4: Spoon 2 tbsp filling in a line down the middle of the paste. Fold the leaf in half lengthways and press the edges together gently to seal. Repeat with the rest.

Step 5: Stand or lay the patoleo in a steamer and steam over boiling water, covered, on a medium heat for 15–18 minutes. They're done when the rice layer has turned from chalky white to translucent and glossy and comes away from the leaf easily. Common mistake: pulling them out early. Under-steamed rice paste is pasty and sticks to the leaf.

Step 6: Rest for 5 minutes, then serve warm, peeling the leaf back at the table.