Chocolate Jelly Pudding (Agar Agar)

Agar-Agar Jelly Pudding

Agar-Agar, China Moss, China Grass, or Kanten are just some of the names commonly used – I’m sure you have heard at least one of these names.

What is Agat Agar?

Agar-Agar is a vegetarian gelatine substitute, according to Wiki it’s made from a seaweed called Red algae. This can be used as gelatin, thicken for soups, as fruit preserves, in ice cream, and other desserts, or as a clarifying agent in brewing. Strangely it can even be used for sizing paper and fabrics and it remains vegetarian. – Read More – 

What are the different types of Agar Agar?

Agar-Agar comes in two different forms, one as a powder and the other as strips. The Agar Agar powder is a very fine white powder that you can directly mix with cold water and use, whereas the strips need to be soaked in water and then added to boiling water before you can use it.

Where to Find it?

Agar-Agar can be found in many local supermarkets where they keep the baking and desserts ingredients or you can find this in any of the health food stores. I was lucky enough to find them in our local supermarket.

What is the ratio of Agar Agar to a liquid?

Different people approach this differently and have come up with different ratios to meet the required texture for their recipes. I’ve tried to make this same recipe with different ratios and came up with different results at each time and finally settled with what I’m about to share. Heres the Foodsnaps blend, using 1.5 cups of liquid to 1/4 cups of chopped Agar-Agar. User a pair of kitchen shears to finely cut Agar-Agar.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of thick coconut milk/cream
• 3/4 cup of water
• 02 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 02 tbsp of coconut sugar – adjust to your preference
• 01 tsp of vanilla essence
• 1/4 tsp of crushed cardamon
• 1/4 cup of chopped Agar-Agar

Ingredients

Method

• Add 3/4 cups of water into a medium-sized bowl and soak Agar-Agar for 10-15 minutes to soften it.
• When the Agar-Agar strips are soft, transfer the soaked Agar-Agar into a medium-sized cooking pot along with the water and bring it to a boil while stirring until it completely dissolves.

Agar-Agar Jelly Pudding

• Now let’s add some flavor, Add coconut milk, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla essence, crushed cardamon into a blender, and pulse few times to mix all the ingredients together.
• Then add the mix to the cooking pot and let it cook for another 05-07 minutes while stirring continuously.

Cooking Agar-Agar Jelly Pudding

• Transfer the mixture into a pudding mold or any serving cup you prefer and place it a room temperature until it completely cools down. This will take about 45 minutes.

Agar-Agar Before Cooling Down

• Once it completely cools down place it in the fridge to set.
• You can serve this as it is or can add some ice-cream or fruits to go with it.

Few Tips;

• The ratio of the Agar-Agar and liquid really depends on the consistency of the output you require.  For example, if you want to present your dessert like jelly squares or bars then the consistency should be thick so it’s easy to cut into cubes. In this case, you need to go with the ratio is given above which results in the thick pudding. But if you need it a little soft that melts in your mouth consistently then make sure to reduce the Agar-agar potion.
• The liquid that you are mixing with Agar-Agar is also a key element to think about when it comes to the final output, In my recipe, I’ve used thick coconut milk which gives a nice and rich flavor but you can always use fruit puree, fruit essence, regular milk with fruit coloring as alternatives.
• Soaking Agar-Agar in water is really not a mandatory step but it will actually help speed up the cooking process.