Easy Pandan Kaya Recipe

My easy pandan kaya recipe is as simple as it gets, and also results in the silkiest, smoothest homemade pandan kaya thanks to a hack for when it curdles.

Pandan kaya is one of my favourite things to spread on toast. Kaya toast is a super popular breakfast in Malaysian kopitiams, and is only made of a few ingredients: thick coconut milk, pandan leaves, eggs and sugar. It's essentially a curd, like lemon curd, or like a custard.

But just like custard, because making pandan kaya involves cooking eggs, it's very susceptible to scrambling and/or curdling. This can be avoided by keeping the heat low and constant stirring, but honestly it's very difficult to avoid when making homemade pandan kaya. Some people try partially steaming it or cooking it over a water bath, but it can still curdle even then.

Don't panic! Just avoid 'large' scrambled chunks by constantly stirring over a low heat. Then, if your kaya has fine curdles at the end (as mine has nine out of 10 times when I make it at home), a quick whizz in the blender will give you the silkiest, smoothest kaya in seconds.

If you want 'regular' kaya, you can omit blending the pandan leaves with the coconut milk, and instead pop two whole knotted leaves in the wok when you're cooking it. You then fish the leaves out and discard them. For this kind of kaya, you can also use half caster sugar, half gula melaka (palm sugar) to get that golden colour. But for this recipe, we're making fabulously, naturally green pandan kaya.

You can also watch me make this on my YouTube channel:

Ready? Let's go.

Ingredients:

200ml full fat coconut milk
6 pandan leaves (washed), cut into chunks
4 eggs
100g caster sugar
Small pinch of salt

Method:

1. Whizz the coconut milk and pandan leaves together in a blender, and strain through a fine sieve, muslin cloth or nut milk bag into a bowl. Discard the pandan leaf fibres.

2. Whisk the pandan coconut milk with the eggs, sugar and salt, and strain through a sieve into a wok or large saucepan.

3. Cook over a low to medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 20–30 minutes or until thickened. Stirring with a balloon whisk will help stop clumps from forming. If it still curdles a little, don't panic: just pop the kaya in a blender or use a stick blender to whizz it until smooth.

4. Transfer the kaya into a clean jar and leave to cool completely before serving. It'll keep in the fridge for a week.

Enjoy, and have fun.