Recently on Twitter a photo of the Sri-Lankan dessert Watalappan was posted by Flying Fish. It looked delicious and different to desserts I normally make so I did a search to find so many variations of the steamed custard. I confirmed with Peter Kuruvita from Flying Fish that you need kithul treacle. This I was able to find at our local spice shop imported from Sri-Lanka.
Firstly I whisked 4 eggs very well. I then added 200ml of the kithul treacle, 200ml of thick coconut cream, 1/4 cup well smashed cardamon pods and 1/2 tsp vanilla paste. I whisked well before straining into a dish for steaming. It took about 1/2 hour to be set.
For the top I put some kithul treacle in a pan until caramelising and then mixed in cashews until well coated. I put the cashews on some grease proof paper to set.
We tried the Watalappan while still warm and it was really lovely, the texture was so silky soft and it was quite sweet.
The next night we had some cold and it was even more delicious. The flavours had developed and the sweetness toned down. My cashews still had a lovely crunch since they were coated in the treacle toffee. I'm assuming that it is meant to be eaten cold the next day!
I really loved it and will have to cook a Sri-Lankan themed meal one night with this as dessert.
Wow - when I first saw this I thought it was a curry! Sounds like it worked out perfectly. I'm looking forward to the meal now to go with it.
ReplyDeletewhat an interesting dish!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a curry, too :)
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this was one of the dishes Flying Fish had at this year's Taste of Sydney and it had me intrigued. It looks & sounds as delicious as I imagined! :D
ReplyDeleteHow facinating! I love reading about dishes I have never heard about before and it sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so delicious! I've never tried Sri Lankan food...it's now on my to-do list! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm new to this dish. It looks delicious!!
ReplyDeleteCan I come and try this out please? I will never get the ingredients here!! Diane
ReplyDeleteWhat an intriguing dessert! Do you know if he has this at his restaurant? :)
ReplyDeleteWow...you are so creative! Well done...looks so tasty (I never even knew a dessert like this existed).
ReplyDeleteThat looks nice. I heard about this dish over at the Claytons blog too.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike eh?
What an interesting dessert! The treacle toffee coated cashews sound fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to Peter's new series! He is such an amazing chef! This dish sounds so tasty too!
ReplyDeleteWhat an unusual dish, it looks really good though!
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