Nagasari is a traditional

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

steamed

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

, originating from

Javanese cuisine Javanese cuisine () is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major Native Indonesian, ethnic group in Indonesia in the provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java. Definition Javanese cuisine refers exclusively to the cuisine of Javan ...

, made of

rice flour Rice flour (also rice powder) is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening ...

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, filled with a slice of

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

and wrapped in banana leaves.

Etymology

''Naga'' in

Javanese language Javanese ( , , ; , Aksara Jawa, Javanese script: , Pegon script, Pegon: , IPA: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indones ...

means "a big snake; a dragon". It refers to a mythical green snake in the Old Java that brings fertility to the earth. The word is derived from a Sanskrit word ''naga''. ''Sari'' means "beautiful; fertile; patient" or "seed; flower". ''Nagasari'' literally means "the seed of the dragon" or "the beautiful dragon". Since the Javanese dragon is often depicted as a green snake, the food is thus given green color. The word ''nagasari'' can also refer to: 1) a specific tree; 2) a specific batik pattern.

Variants

''Nagasari'' comes in green color (the most common) and white (less common). The green color comes from pandan leaves extract. White nagasaris are called ''legendo'' in

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java, the Central Java Province of Indonesia that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a Subdivi ...

. In modern time, people start making different colors of nagasari. Blue nagasari, among them, gets its blue color from butterfly pea flowers. Nagasari is commonly sold in Indonesian traditional market as a jajan pasar. In

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, which has a significantly large Javanese population, it's pronounced ''nogosari'' and consists of rice flour with bananas that are steamed in banana leaf packets.

References

External links

Kue Nagasari recipe
(in Indonesian) Dumplings Vegetarian dishes of Indonesia Banana dishes Kue Steamed foods {{indonesia-cuisine-stub

Etymology

Variants

See also

References

External links