List of Sri Lankan sweets and desserts

This is a list of notable Sri Lankan sweets and desserts. Sri Lanka is well known throughout South Asia for sweets and desserts originating from there. Desserts are usually served as part of main meals, whereas sweets are consumed at tea times. Many Sri Lankan desserts and sweets contain domestic spices, jaggery and kithul (Caryota urens) treacle. Locally made treacle and jaggery are the most common sweeteners.Sri Lanka's most famous sweet as acknowledged by all Sri Lankan is kawum .

Desserts

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Name Image Main ingredients Description
Watalappam   Coconut milk, jaggery (kittul treacle), eggs, spices (cardamom, cloves) The most popular dessert among Sri Lankan Muslims during Ramadan. Commonly served at weddings, parties and other special ceremonies.
Buffalo curd   Buffalo milk, starter culture Popular in southern Sri Lanka for weddings, alms, and as a household dessert.
Semolina and jaggery pudding Semolina, jaggery, milk, spices cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla A less common dessert.
Avocado Cream Avocado, sugar, cream Household dessert often offered in restaurants.
Kirala (Lumnitzera littorea) fruit milk Kirala fruits, treacle A dessert drink popular in southern Sri Lanka.
Kithul flour pudding Kithul flour, coconut milk, jaggery or sugar, spices A popular dessert among Sinhalese people, offered in some small restaurants.
Wood apple milk Wood apple, coconut milk, sugar A very popular dessert drink.
Pudding of dulya Eggs, milk, bread crumbs, sugar, vanilla Similar to bread pudding. Used for special occasions.
Sago pudding   Sago, sugar, milk, eggs This is popular among all communities in Sri Lanka. Mostly offered at Tamil weddings and cultural festivals.

Sweets

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Commonly used ingredients across traditional Sri Lankan sweets are Rice flour, treacle and coconut milk. Treacle is a food sweetening syrup made from the sap oozing from "tapped" blossoms of palm trees, particularly, Coconut (Cocos nusifera) or "Kithul" (Caryota urens).

Name Image Main ingredients Description
Aasmi Rice flour, coconut milk and the juice of cinnamon leaves Deep fried but served cooled. Popular treat served at Sinhalese New Year and special events.
Aggala Kithul treacle, rice flour, pepper Spicy sweet. Mostly prepared for tea time in villages.
Aluwa   Rice flour, sugar, milk, butter, spices (cardamom, cloves) Popular among Sinhalese. Served at cultural festivals.
Athirasa Rice flour, treacle, coconut milk A very popular and culturally important Sinhalese sweet. Diamond or round shaped batter deep fried in hot oil.
Bibikkan   Semolina, raisins, treacle, rice flour, scrapped coconut, spices and flavours Similar to fruit cake.
Dosi   Fruit, sugar, water candied fruit
Green Gram cake (Mung Kevum) Rice flour, mung flour, treacle, ghee, spices A popular Sinhalese sweet fried in oil often used at cultural events.
Halapa rice flour, kurakkan flour It's usually wrapped in a leaf.
Kalu Dodol   kithul jaggery, rice flour, coconut milk, and cashew nuts Sri Lankan dodol. Household sweet, usually served at tea time and special events. Prepared by boiling Coconut milk and Kitul Juggery in big Pan (thachi) and adding rice flour, cashew nut and spices to the reduced mix.
Kesari bhath   Rava, cardamon, sugar, ghee A South Indian sweet now very popular among Tamils, who cook it for celebrations.
Kevum (Oil Cake)   Rice flour, treacle, coconut milk A very popular Sinhalese sweet. Fried in hot oil pan individually. The small bump at top gives the name 'konda' (tied hair).Ladies with special skill to get "Kanda" wins respect.
Kiri aluwa (milk toffee)   Condensed milk, sugar, cashew nuts, cardamom soft milk toffee
Kokis   Rice flour, coconut milk Crispy biscuit-like, Of Dutch origin
Lavariya Rice flour, Pol Pani Soft string hoppers filled with caramelised coconut
Popo (coconut balls) Coconut, sugar, flour, essence Used in rituals and special events.
Sowboro Flour, sugar, rulan, scraped coconut, butter and salt Popular biscuit among Sinhalese, available only in village boutiques and fairs.
Undu Walalu/Undu Wal or Pani Walalu Urad bean flour and kithul treacle Tasty crispy tubes filled with Kithul treacle. Looks like earthworm but a world class sweet, unique to Sri Lanka.
Weli Thalapa Rice flour, scraped coconut, Kitul or coconut treacle, spices Household sweet, usually served at tea time. Prepared in two step process, first is to prepare Pittu with Rice flour and second to mix that with Kitul / Coconut treacle.

See also

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