What is watalappan made of?

Watalappam (also called watalappan or vattalappam) (Sinhala: වටලප්පන්, Tamil: வட்டலாப்பம், Sri Lankan Malay: serikaya) is a Sri Lankan coconut custard pudding made of coconut milk or condensed milk, jaggery, cashew nuts, eggs, various spices, including cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg, and sometimes thick pandan juice or ...

How to get holes in a watalappan?

Using a whisk or sometimes even your clean hands would bring in more volume into the mixture and create the perfect inside with holes.

What is the national dessert of Sri Lanka?

Wattalapam Talking about Sri Lankan desserts, you cannot miss this mouth-smacking pudding that is made during festivals in Sri Lanka or any other special occasion. It is usually made with coconut milk, jaggery, cashew nuts, and eggs and then garnished with cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom.

What is the history of Watalappam?

It is believed this dessert came to Sri Lanka from Indonesia, through Sri Lankan-Malays in the 18th century , from where it gained popularity and was adopted by other communities, including the Tamil Muslims of Kayalpatanam. Made with three simple, it is delicate, creamy and relatively easy to make.

How do you pronounce watalappan?

First off, how do you pronounce Watalappan? Phonetically it's written wɒtə-lʌp-pʌn (or what-a-lup-pun) .

What is Vattalappam famous for?

Vathalappam is a dessert which combines the creaminess of coconut with the raw sweetness of jaggery and just the right hint of cardamom to elevate the entire experience. It is famous for the subtle flavours and ease of making it .

What is curd and treacle?

Curd and treacle is a popular Sri Lankan sweet treat that is mainly enjoyed for breakfast . The dish consists of a creamy curd (meekiri), mostly made from buffalo milk, which is drizzled with sweet treacle—in Sri Lanka known as kithul peni and traditionally made from the sap of the fishtail or toddy palm (caryota).

Are there deserts in Sri Lanka?

The Sri Lankan landscape spans rain forests, deserts, mountains, and sandy beaches . You can see both the largest land animal and the largest marine animal in this island nation on the same day – find out which species they are in the country profile…

How to use kithul jaggery?

Kithul jaggery is a food sweetener – Kithul jaggery is used in the making of some types of ice cream and cake and served with tea and other herbal infusions as an accompaniment .

What is Sri Lankan most expensive dessert?

It's called Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence . Woah, that's quite a name! But before we go on to decode it, let us understand what this dish is all about.

What is the national breakfast of Sri Lanka?

Hoppers are the classic Sri Lankan breakfast dish and come as either egg hoppers (bowl shaped pancakes with an egg inside) or the totally different string hoppers which were noodle like. Because of the amount of preparation required these needed to be requested the night before, in all except the bigger hotels.

What is the national fruit of Sri Lanka?

Jackfruit is the national fruit of Srilanka. The capital of Srilanka is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo.

Watalappan-Coconut Custard Recipe (2024)

Mar 22, 2022 by Farwin Simaak.

Watalappan- A classic Srilankan dessert ! This delicious and creamy coconut custard is made with only a handful of ingredients and resembles a creme caramel flan. Spiced with cardamom and pure, unrefined palm sugar it's gluten free and dairy free.

This is a modified and much detailed version of my previous recipe which can be found here. You can also see my photos way back when I just started blogging 🙂

History

I never planned to write a post on Watalappan. When my friend Didi asked whether I could contribute an article related to food culture for her emagazine I opted to write about this classic Sri Lankan dessert. A dessert that represents Sri Lanka and it's diversity.

Being under Portuguese, Dutch and English rule, it's strategic locations that made it a crucial pit stop in trade routes and it's diverse ethnic and multicultural society all contributed to the unique and diverse cuisine of Sri Lanka. Watalappan, this humble cardamom spiced coconut custard is an excellent example of it.

It's believed to have been originated with Sri Lankan Malays during Dutch rule. Malays from Malaysia and Indonesia were posted as soldiers or were exiled and posted in Sri Lanka. This dessert brought in by the Malays uses local ingredients; coconut milk and unrefined sugar called 'kitul' jaggery in Sri Lanka.

And is very similar to the creme caramel, flan or creme brulee. The only difference is that the sugar doesn't need any caramalization due to the molasses like flavor from the jaggery.

Ingredients

The star ingredient in the watalappan is the "kitul" jaggery. Jaggery is a hardened block of cane sugar. But in Sri Lanka it is made from the sap of a palm tree called 'Kitul'. It's the maple tree of Sri Lanka. The Kitul tree is found in Sri Lanka and some parts of India. The kitul jaggery is a dark brown molassy block of sugar which is softer than cane sugar jaggery and grates easily. The kitul sap is turned into both jaggery and treacle similar to maple syrup and taste delicious on it's own. We used to drizzle the treacle on curd or top it with shaved jaggery. Makes me nostalgic.

You can find kitul jaggery and treacle in Sri Lankan specialty stores all across North America. Some sites do sell online but I haven't used them.

If you can't find kitul jaggery or would rather prefer a substitution I would recommend using a dark brown molasses sugar. Plain jaggery or ones made with cane sugar is very pale and will not give the beautiful molasses color or flavor to the watalappan.

I keep it simple and use only green cardamom for the spice and aroma. Cardamom powder can be bought in store. Or grind your own using 1 or 2 tablespoon cardamom pods in a coffee or spice grinder.

Canned full fat coconut milk is the best. Low fat coconut milk doesn't yield the best results.

Tips for a luscious creamy watalappan

Making watalappan is easy as it's ingredients. However, there are some points to note to get that luscious creamy and porous texture.

Heat the jaggery/brown molasses sugar only until it is melted. Don't overheat.
Only use a whisk, not a beater. You don't want a frothy mixture. Whisk ever so slightly to beat the eggs and to mix everything in.
Strain the mixture before adding it to ramekins or a baking dish.
Fill the moulds only up to ¾th to prevent over spill when steaming.

Cooking Method

Traditionally, it's steamed in a large pot with a weighted lid on top and steamed for about 30 to 45 minutes depending on the type of dish used.

I use the oven and bake it in a water bath If I'm making watalappan for a large crowd.

But my favorite way to steam is in the Instant Pot. It's easy and quick and satisfies my watalappan cravings in a jiffy.

It's gluten free and dairy free. So what's not to like ? Try it today and let me know how it turned out. Tag me in your pictures with @loveandotherspices or #loveandotherspices. I'd love to see your creations.

Recipe