The Marikkar Wattalapan

Created by the Muslim community, this treasure of a dessert is often served at any big Muslim occasion. My aunts and cousins make the best, best Watalappan, and I am honoured to share my Aunty Shifaya and her daughter Minha’s beloved recipe with you.

The Ceylon Moor dessert spectacular Wattalapan

Serves 6–8

Ingredients

• 10 eggs (equivalent to 500g)

• 500g of jaggery, grated 

• 1 tbsp brown or white sugar

• 360ml of thick coconut milk 

• 10 cardamom pods, crushed 

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the 10 eggs by hand with a whisk or a fork, adding the jaggery a little at a time until it is fully dissolved into the egg mixture. It is critical that the custard is not over beaten and that there is not too many bubbles or air.  

2. Add in the sugar, coconut milk, crushed cardamoms and beat into the egg mixture until just combined. 

3. Remove the cardamom skins and strain the jaggery custard into a heatproof bowl. 

4. Take the heatproof mixing bowl and steam for 30 minutes until the pudding has set. Serve once cooled. 

Tips 

There is a trick to this recipe: Get good quality jaggery that melts quickly so that you don’t end up overwhipping the custard. If you find that your jaggery is not melting into the beaten eggs, then take a small amount of beaten egg and blend it with all the grated jaggery in a blender until a thick custard is formed, then add this back to the beaten eggs and whisk until just combined. And steam the watalappan in a bowl where the circumference of the bottom is much smaller than the top. If you can, steam it in in a stainless-steel mixing bowl.