Buntil — Central Java, Indonesia

Buntil is a Javanese dish built from grated coconut mixed with dried anchovies and ground spices, wrapped inside leaves such as papaya, cassava or taro, then simmered in coconut milk with more spices until the parcels are tender. The leaf holds a soft, savory coconut filling that takes on the flavor of the broth as it cooks. The dish is reported across Java, where it is prepared at home and also sold in warungs, restaurants and street food stalls. It is especially common at temporary markets set up during Ramadan, in the run-up to breaking the fast, alongside other dishes suited to the evening meal. To prepare it, the chosen leaves are blanched briefly to soften them, and a paste of shallots, garlic, chili, candlenut and turmeric is ground and divided in two: half is worked into the grated coconut and anchovies for the filling, the other half is simmered into the coconut milk with kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass and a little palm sugar. Portions of filling are wrapped tightly in the leaves, tied, and added to the simmering coconut milk until the sauce thickens and the leaves turn tender. The choice of wrapping leaf is one of the main points of difference: papaya leaf gives a faintly bitter note that some cooks value, while cassava or taro leaves are milder, and the ratio of anchovy to coconut, along with the heat of the chili, shifts the flavor from one household to another. The wrapped-and-simmered method, though, stays the same across these variations.