Indonesian sweet potato soup

I saw this recipe on a site, where the author stated that it was an Indonesian dessert. I tried it and all my family satisfied with the result, so much that I'm cooking it again and again but have never bothered to check if it's really from Indonesia or not :). No matter where its origin is, I still love it.

Sweet soup, [big] tapioca pearls and coconut milk

Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients:
• 2 medium potatoes, cooked
• About 75g tapioca flour
• 210-230g palm sugar
• 1 liter water

• Coconut milk and a pinch of salt (optional)
• Tapioca pearls (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook the potatoes and mash them while they're still hot. Let cool a bit.
 
2. Add tapioca flour, mix to get a dough that's not sticky and not too dry.
 
3. Roll into small balls about 1-2cm in diameter.
 
4. Bring water to a boil, add palm sugar, stir to dissolve. Gradually and gently drop in sweet potato balls, stir to avoid sticking. The balls are cooked when they float. Bring to a boil again. Turn off heat. Let cool.

5. If you're a cautious mother (like me), you'll also boil coconut milk with a pinch of salt. Let cool. Store in a tight container.

6. If you have dry tapioca pearls, just follow the instructions. If not, you can make them this way: take some tapioca flour, add some water, a little at a time, mix until you have a non-sticky dough. Roll into very small balls. Boil some water, drop in the balls. They're cooked when they float. Spoon them out and drop them into a bowl of cold water at once to prevent sticking. When they're completely cooled, store in a tight container in the fridge.

7. To serve, spoon sweet soup with sweet potato balls into your bowl, add coconut milk and/or tapioca pearls as you want.

The [big] tapioca pearls

Notes:

1. When you add tapioca flour to mashed potatoes or water to flour, always add little by little until you get a nice non-sticky dough. You may have to use more or less flour than the amount stated in the recipe depending on the type of potatoes you have.

2. If you make tapioca pearls yourself, roll them very small. I made them quite big and it took all day to cook.

The purple potato ball - it got its color from the purple sweet potatoes I used. Yellow potatoes will make yellow balls, which are pretty too.

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #20: Asian dessert buffet! (June 2012) hosted by Moon of Food Playground.