Watalappan

I first tasted this luscious dessert at the wedding of one of our Muslim neighbours in Sri Lanka when I was about ten or eleven years old. To this day, several decades later, I remember the absolutely delicious taste of my first spoonful.

Wattalappan, ethnic to Muslim/Malay cuisine, is one of the most popular Sri Lankan desserts. 
To eat. 
But it's not an easy one to make, specially if you want an authentic tasting dessert.
Then my sister, Amali, had the bright idea of using the recipe in Chandra Dissanayake’s ‘Ceylon Cookery’ book and adding her own variation of using the microwave, instead of steaming the dish.

What you’ll need:

* 1 cup coconut cream

* 250g jaggery (hardened coconut treacle)

* 3 eggs

* Good pinch of spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg)

* Toasted cashew nuts for decoration

What to do:

Dissolve jaggery in cold coconut milk (you will have to grate the jaggery to make it easy to dissolve). Strain. Add to lightly beaten eggs. Strain again.

Add spices (Amali also added a lot of chopped nuts). Then add into microwave-proof dish. Cover. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Decorate with cashew nuts.