1. Steep the butterfly pea tea or flowers in 200ml hot water for 10 minutes to dye the water blue. Strain and discard the flowers. Add pandan essence to the blue water.
2. In a large bowl, combine glutinous rice flour with the warm butterfly pea water, and knead till it forms a smooth dough.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
4. Pinch a small piece of dough (about 30g) and drop into the boiling water. When the dough rises to the surface, remove it with a slotted spoon and shake off the excess water. Turn off the heat.
5. Knead this cooked dough back into the raw dough in the bowl until smoothly incorporated. This step helps to keep the dough elastic and resilient.
6. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and set aside for about 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, mix the grated coconut with salt and place into a heat-proof bowl and steam for 8 minutes. Remove from the steamer and allow to cool completely.
8. To make the filling, mix the chopped gula melaka and durian pulp (defrosted to room temp if using frozen puree) together in a bowl. Stir vigorously with a fork or whisk till smooth. For a silkier consistency, blend together using an immersion blender.
9. Dust work surface with glutinous rice flour.
10. Pinch off 15g of dough and roll it between your palms to form a ball. Dust your fingers with a bit of glutinous rice flour if you find the dough sticking to your hands.
11. Make an indentation in the centre of the ball of dough with your thumb (see above pic) and continue pinching the dough with your thumb and forefinger to form a “cup”. The resulting piece of dough should measure about 7cm in diameter and 3mm thick around the edges.
12. Place 1 teaspoonful of the durian and gula melaka filling in the centre of the dough and gently pinch the seams of the dough to seal. Roll lightly between your palms to form a smooth ball. You may find that the area around the seams thicker — carefully pinch off excess dough if need be and continue rolling it into a ball.
13. Place the filled ball of dough onto the floured surface and repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.
14. Bring the pot of water to a boil again. Gently lower a few balls into the boiling water. Don’t overcrowd the pot. Stir the water gently with a spoon so that the balls don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
15. Let the balls cook gently until they float to the top. Allow them to cook for 2 minutes longer, then remove with a slotted spoon and shake off excess water.
16. Place the balls on the plate of grated coconut, toss them lightly to coat completely and serve within four hours.