Serundeng (Toasted Spiced Coconut)

Some of the Indo kitchen's greatest pleasures are the smallest, and serundeng is a perfect example — a fragrant, crunchy scatter of toasted spiced coconut that you sprinkle over rice, saté, or a whole rijsttafel to add texture and perfume. A jar of it in the cupboard turns a plain plate of rice into something worth eating.

An Indonesian condiment at the Dutch table

Serundeng is Indonesian, a coconut condiment found across Java and beyond, sometimes made with peanuts or served alongside spiced meat. It travelled to the Netherlands through the colonial rijsttafel and the Indo community who kept the dish alive, and today it is sold in tubs at every Dutch toko and made at home by those who like it fresher. It is a garnish rather than a centrepiece — but a garnish that a good Indo cook would not go without. Its roots are Indonesian, and that is worth saying plainly.

Patience at the pan

The whole craft of serundeng is in the toasting. Grated coconut is coated in a small, potent bumbu of shallot, garlic and spice, then dry-toasted slowly until it turns from white to deep gold and from soft to shatteringly crisp. The catch is that coconut is full of oil and sugar, and the moment it begins to colour it will burn if you look away. This is a dish that demands you stand at the stove, stirring, until it is done.

Serundeng rewards the cook who won't leave the pan — the difference between golden and burnt is a matter of seconds.

Balance the paste with tamarind for sourness and a little palm sugar for roundness, and stir through roasted peanuts at the end if you like the extra crunch. Cooled and stored airtight, it keeps for weeks — a small, fragrant insurance against a dull bowl of rice.