Wattalapam – a Sri Lankan dessert dream
Today the culinary journey continues
From Vietnam, we go to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan cuisine is very spiced and sometimes spicy
Sri Lanka grows some spices themselves and they are used generously.
On a cinnamon farm, we ate a whole menu based on cinnamon! From soup to appetizer to the main course to dessert – everything smelled deliciously of cinnamon.
Other key spices include cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, and of course turmeric
The spiciness of the dishes is adjusted with chili.
A main ingredient in Sri Lankan cuisine is coconut. It seems to be everywhere and is available in large quantities on the market. Every part of the coconut is used.
The water as a refreshing drink – this is a different kind of coconut -, the pulp as a spicy sambol or to make coconut milk or coconut cream.
The husk is made into cooking spoons and the fibrous outer husk is used for rope or fabric.
Coconut milk and coconut cream are actually used for every kind of dish. Also, for the many curry dishes
If you are in the mood for a Sri Lankan curry dish, try this recipe.
But today I want to introduce you to Wattalapam, a dessert from Sri Lanka – a creamy pudding with lots of spices, eggs, and coconut milk
The sweetness comes from dark jaggery – which is unrefined sugar cane sugar. It tastes intense and caramel-like. In Sri Lanka, it is usually sold as a sugar stick or a pressed slice. If you can’t find jaggery, you can just use other unrefined sugar or even caramel syrup.
And you can find coconut milk at any major store, thank goodness.
I usually need whole spices, which I grind fresh in a mortar if needed. This way they will not be so finely ground. That’s why I strain the finished sauce before thickening it.
The dessert is for about eight people.
Here is a recipe for Wattalapam – a dessert from Sri Lanka!
Wattalapam (egg pudding with spices)
Ingredients
- Butter for buttering the ramekins
For the pudding:
- 200 ml milk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 8 eggs
For the syrup:
- 200 g raw sugar
- 60 ml water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160 °C
Sugar syrup:
- Place sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat until golden and syrupy, then cool.
Pudding:
- Place milk and spices in a saucepan and heat to almost boiling point. Then remove from heat and add the coconut milk.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar syrup together and add to the milk mixture. Mix everything well.
- Pour the mixture into the previously buttered ramekins.
- Place the ramekins in a casserole dish – the casserole dish half filled with hot water.
- Put the casserole dish with the ramekins in it into the oven preheated to 160°C. Let the pudding thicken in the oven (about 50 minutes).
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