Sri Lankan Sweets: Curd, Treacle, Kavum and the Desserts Worth Knowing

Sri Lanka has a dessert culture that is quiet, proud, and seriously underrated. The sweets here are not the showy constructions of European patisserie. They are dense, coconut-forward, often thickly sweet in a way that satisfies on a single piece, and they come with a history that goes back centuries.

Curd and treacle is the dessert that converts everyone. Buffalo curd — thick, slightly tangy, served in clay pots — with kithul treacle poured over it from a small jug. Kithul is the syrup of the fishtail palm and it is dark, complex, and slightly smoky in a way that has no real equivalent anywhere else. The combination of the cold curd and the warm, woody treacle is one of the perfect flavour combinations of the region.

Kavum is the traditional deep-fried sweet: a dark, sticky, circular cake made from rice flour and kithul treacle, fried until the outside is crisp and the inside is chewy and dense. It is eaten at festivals and celebrations and made in home kitchens for special occasions. Find a good home bakery or a serious sweet shop in any Sri Lankan town and the kavum will be freshly made.

Watalappan is the Malay-influenced custard that is specific to Sri Lanka's Muslim community and has become beloved across the whole island. Made with coconut milk, kithul jaggery, eggs, and spices — cardamom, nutmeg, cloves — it is steamed into a dense, dark custard with a depth of flavour that is unlike any other custard in the world. Find it at a Muslim bakery or restaurant. The version made by hand in a home kitchen is better than any restaurant version you will find, and if you are invited to try someone's family watalappan, the correct response is gratitude.