Serunding kelapa is a delicious, lightly spiced side dish that is popular in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
What is Serunding Kelapa?
It is freshly grated coconut that’s seasoned with spices and tamarind, then cooked (with no added oil) until it’s dry-ish but still moist.
It has toasty, nutty, caramel and spicy flavours, and depending on the cook, can be sweet or hot, or a mix of both.
There are, essentially, 3 types of serunding:
- serunding kelapa – with just coconut as the filling (kelapa = coconut)
- serunding daging – made with beef (daging = meat)
- serunding ayam – with chicken (ayam = chicken)
How is Serunding Kelapa Eaten?
Think of it as a condiment or topping. Much like sambals and chutneys, it is used to enhance your meal. For eg, if you are having some rice and sayur lemak, that vegetable coconut stew, you’d finish dishing it up with a spoonful of this serunding kelapa.
Another common way of using serunding kelapa is to coat glutinous rice balls with it. Recipe soon, I promise!
And hopefully, you don’t have to wait too long for the other two types of serunding either! The image below shows you a typical Malay meal of rice, sayur lemak, sambal goreng, a little red sambal and finally, some serunding.
What Coconut to Use?
The best coconut you can use for serunding is the freshly grated kind. This will produce the finest, softest serunding kelapa. Next best thing will be the frozen grated coconut found in ethnic stores.
I can’t get freshly grated coconut in the shops here in the UK, so I do one of the following:
- either grate the coconut myself using a manual grater like this one, sold on Amazon. You basically clamp it to your kitchen counter or table and grate away. I have to warn you though, the grater isn’t of the best quality, it tends to move after a while. But you get what you pay for, and it takes me about 5 minutes to grate 1 coconut, so I’m pretty happy, especially since this method gives me the best texture for serunding.
- or use the frozen grated coconut found in south Asian shops. This is passable for serunding, it’s just on the coarse side, no not quite floss, as seen in the images here.
I use this a lot as it is, defrosted on cakes and desserts or to extract coconut milk.
Oh, and if you are Singaporean or Malaysian reading this, I have it with putu mayam (idiyappam in India) too or use it to make putu bambu. One day, guys, I’ll post the recipes!
So if you can’t get either of the above, use desiccated coconut. To make up for the loss in flavour, we add a small amount of coconut milk to it to make our serunding kelapa.
Some Ingredients to look for
Click on the buttons above to read more about each of these ingredients, what they are, how to use them and how to substitute them.
The gula melaka and dried shrimp are on LinsFood, which means they’ll open in a new tab for you.
And that’s that! Look out for the other two serunding in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, shall we get cooking?
More Recipes to Enjoy
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Lin xx
How to make Serunding Kelapa
Equipment
- knife and chopping board
- Food chopper
- frying pan or wok
- ladle
- jar for storing
- bowl
- saucer
- side plate
- spoons as needed
- gloves for mixing (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 coconuts, grated, white flesh only (about 300 g / 10.5 oz) OR 200 g (7 oz) desiccated coconut
- 1 stalk lemongrass to be used whole
- 4 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp white sugar
- 1 Tbsp gula melaka or palm sugar
- 125 ml coconut milk (only if using desiccated coconut)
Whole Dry Spices (use ground, if you prefer)
- 3 Tbsp coriander seeds OR 2 Tbsp ground
- 1 Tbsp fennel seeds OR 2 tsp ground
- 1 Tbsp cumin seeds OR 2 tsp ground
Ingredients to be ground
- 2 heaped Tbsp tamarind pulp OR 3 Tbsp paste from shop-bought jar
- 60 ml water boiling, for the tamarind (omit if using shop-bought tamarind paste)
- 1 large onion
- 3 fresh red chillies
- 2 large cloves garlic
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 2.5 cm ginger
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp galangal paste OR 2.5 cm (1 in) fresh
- 2 candlenuts (optional) OR 2 macadamia nuts or 1 cashew nut OR just leave out
- 1 Tbsp dried prawns (optional, leave out if vegetarian)
Instructions
Soak the Tamarind
- Put the kettle on and place the tamarind pulp in a bowl.2 heaped Tbsp tamarind pulp
- Pour about the boiling water over the pulp and cover with a saucer. Leave to soak while you get the other ingredients going.60 ml water
Dry Fry the Whole Spices
- We will be toasting the spices, then grinding them to a powder in a spice or coffee mill. Skip this step by using ground coriander, fennel and cumin. It's up to you. I love freshly ground spices in serunding.
- Place the coriander seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds into a small frying pan and toast them over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. You'll get a nutty, toasty fragrance from this. Tip out onto a plate and leave to cool, while you go on with the other prep work.3 Tbsp coriander seeds, 1 Tbsp fennel seeds, 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
More Prep Work
- Peel, then quarter the onion. Drop into your chopper.1 large onion
- Halve or roughly chop the chillies and add to the chopper.3 fresh red chillies
- Peel the garlic and add to the chopper.2 large cloves garlic
- Lemongrass – you have 2. One, we'll be using whole, the other is going in the paste.Slice off the tough bottom end (the root end) of both the lemongrass. And cut off the top part, leaving about 10 cm (4 in) of stalk. Peel off the top layer, if it's particularly dry or dirty, or looking a little yellow. If not, leave it alone. Rinse your lemongrass and dry.Whole – place your lemongrass on a chopping board and bash hard on the thick end with the back of your knife. This is called bruising your lemongrass. Set aside until cooking time.Second lemongrass – slice into thin rings and add to the chopper.You can read more about how to prepare lemongrass for use in this post.1 stalk lemongrass, 1 stalk lemongrass
- Slice the ginger and add to the chopper.2.5 cm ginger
- Add the turmeric and galangal to the chopper too.2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp galangal paste
- Bash your candlenuts with the back of your spoon to split into two, then drop into the chopper.2 candlenuts
- Add the dried prawns too. I don't bother presoaking them.1 Tbsp dried prawns
Let's Make the Serunding Paste
- Mash the tamarind with your fingers (it should be cool enough now). Then fish out the seeds and pulp, discard, and pour everything else into your chopper. Or use a sieve with a large mesh.
- Remember those whole spices we toasted? Tip them into a spice mill (or coffee mill) and grind to a powder. Then tip into your chopper with the other ingredients.
- Now, finally, grind everything to a fairly smooth paste. You shouldn't need any water, but if you do, add a tiny amount.
Cook our Serunding
- Tip your coconut, whole lemongrass, and everything else into your chosen frying pan or wok.Then pour the serunding paste all over. Mix thoroughly with your hands (the turmeric will stain your nails and the chillies may be hot, so use gloves if you want).Taste it now to check seasoning. Add a little more salt if you want.If using desiccated coconut, add the coconut milk too.2 coconuts, grated, white flesh only (about 300 g / 10.5 oz), 4 kaffir lime leaves, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp white sugar, 1 Tbsp gula melaka, 125 ml coconut milk (only if using desiccated coconut)
- Now, place your pan on medium heat as it is, no oil needed, let the serunding heat up for 2 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium-low, when everything's had a chance to heat through and cook, stirring constantly until it gets a little dry and is giving off a wonderful toasty and spicy fragrance. This will take about 15-20 minutes.Leave to cool, then store in an airtight container, as described in the post above.
Wish you happy fasting and an awesome Hari Raya 🙂
I made this today and it was a success. Thank you very much for sharing your recipe and including the step by step directions. Would love to share photos but I’m unable to attach them here.
I’m so pleased to hear that, Normah
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Salam Kak & hope it’s not too pate to wish you Selamat Hari Raya! Last year I tried your lemang recipe & this year I made it again for Raya. Today I made this serunding & very happy that it’s really similar to my aunt’s! Now I don’t have to ask her to make it for me whenever I crave for serunding! Thanks for your sharing 🙂
Hi Farah, Selamat Hari Raya to you too. I’m so pleased to hear that, thank you for taking the time to let me know. Now you can enjoy serunding anytime!
Hi, Could you please tell me how long this will keep and should it be refrigerated. Can it be frozen
Regards
D.P
Hi David, it’ll keep for a week on the kitchen counter, kept in an airtight container. If you store it in the fridge, it’ll last a month.
It can definitely be frozen for up to 3 months. I find that any longer, and it starts to lose some of its aroma. You can reheat it on low heat on the stove or in the microwave oven in short bursts.
I am so excited to see this and try to make it! It was part of my favourite dish (coconut shrimp) at a Malaysian restaurant we went to 20 years ago. We moved from there and haven’t seen anything like it here. Plus, now I am vegan so I can make vegan. Thanks!
I’m so pleased to have been able to help, Tetyana. Let me know how it goes.
I feel I’m making too many comments, just that something else occurred to me. I used 125 ml coconut milk with my desiccated coconut, but felt that it wasn’t wet enough to turn and cook, so I added more and more and used a tin, then cooked til dryish. Very good with less cumin next time (for my taste).
No worries, Nik. The coconut milk is there to compensate for the lack of creaminess in desiccated coconut, so we don’t really need much. But it’s all a matter of taste, best way to enjoy a recipe.
Additional note, if you’re not a fan of cumin, put in half or less of the amount. I reduced cumin to 3/4 T but is still predominant. Great for cumin lovers, but for me (using whole spices toasted and ground) I would reduce to 1t. Horses for courses!
Different folks, different strokes. 😉
Thanks Nik, my MIL will agree with you on that one!
Hi, am I missing something? Where do you use the whole, bruised lemongrass please?
Hi Nik, you didn’t miss anything, my bad. I’ve edited and clarified it in step 1 of “Cooking our Serunding”. Thanks for picking that up.
Thanks! That what I did because of the picture, I just wasn’t sure. 😊
This was amazing, thanks. I can only get the frozen variety here in Melbourne, but it turned out absolutely delicious!
Hi Adam, I’m so pleased to hear that. Thanks for letting me know.
Thank you, made this today with desiccated coconut, and it’s amazing. Adding the coconut milk is what made the difference. You rock!
Haha, pleased to hear you loved it, Jamil.