Indonesia – Bajigur

In December 2011 I travelled to Indonesia for three weeks with a good friend and I must be honest when I say that I didn’t much enjoy the food – I think partly because we were always on the road and would end up eating snacks rather than proper meals. One thing I do remember though is the sweet tea that we would get for breakfast almost everywhere and the nasi goreng (which is basically their version of fried rice). I also remember trying snake in Indonesia and it was the texture of fish with a taste like chicken… however, I now love a few Indonesian dishes, for example rendang or the pineapple dish I made for Brunei is also consumed in Indonesia! Back when I travelled, I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker and while I did visit a Kopi Luwak coffee farm (I’ll let you google that one!) I don’t remember drinking any coffee which is a shame as bajigur is quite famous around Indonesia, as is its slightly lesser known baby brother kopi lethok.

Kopi lethok is a coffee drink made with coconut milk, sugar and coffee granules, it’s bigger brother bajigur is the same but with the addition of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and pandan leaves… think coconutty chai coffee? It’s super tasty and if you can’t find pandan leaves you could always try a little vanilla.

Serves 2

• Ingredients:

• 500ml of coconut milk (preferably not tinned, although this will give you a very creamy coffee)

• 1inch piece of ginger sliced

• 1 stick cinnamon

• 1 clove

• Sugar to taste

• 1-2 tbsp instant coffee depending on taste and strength.

Method:

1. Bring the coconut milk to a simmer and add the ginger and cinnamon.

2. Taste the milk after about 10 minutes to see if it’s infused enough for you to taste ginger and cinnamon.

3. Then add sugar and coffee to taste, simmer until the sugar is dissolved, strain and serve!