Making the batter is so easy. Start by dumping your four cups of flour into a large bowl, add the salt and then rub in the butter until the flour feels 'silky' and gets a little bit clumpy. Then make a well in the middle of the bowl and chuck your sugar in there.
Time to work on the yeast. Put your 3 teaspoons of yeast into a smaller bowl (that's not made of plastic). Slowly add a cup of very warm water and stir until the yeast is dissolved... sometimes I get in there with my fingers to help the dissolving process.
Next, pour the yeast-water into the flour mixture - into the well with the sugar. You should see the yeast begin to bubble up as it makes contact with the sugar.
And then you just grab a wooden spoon and fold the flour into the liquid - mix it all up - adding more warm water (2 to 3 cups) until it becomes a thick batter that still jiggles a bit when you shake the bowl.
Cover the bowl lightly with a clean towel or baking paper and leave it in a warm, dry spot to rise for 2 hours.
When you come back to the dough, it should have doubled in size with lots of holes in it. Spread 2 cups of fresh flour out on a clean counter, then pour the sticky, hole-y batter on to it. Then you're going to fold the new flour into the dough and knead it until it's a lot less sticky because it's absorbed almost all of the flour. (This shouldn't take much more than 5 minutes).
When you've got a dough that's a lot more solid than batter, easier to hold but still a little bit sticky, chuck it back in the bowl and cover again for another round of rising.
This second rise should only take an hour and a bit. The dough should have doubled in size again but with only a few holes this time. On your clean counter top, dump another half cup of fresh flour because you're going to knead the dough again, but only to get rid of a little more sticky-ness.
And now it's time to roll your buns. That means, cut a palm-full of dough, roll it between your hands into a short, thick rope thing, then tie it like an 'almost' knot. If that's too hard, you can always just roll a sphere - up to you.
Oh wait!! Now is the perfect time to pre-heat your oven - 200 degrees Celsius if you're in NZ... or whatever that is in Fahrenheit (400?). Okay, continue.
Place your buns in neat rows in a pan that can take up to 24 buns (sorry, I'm still not sure what size pan that is). Let them sit there for a while (they will continue to rise) as you go prepare the coconut cream sauce.