List of Sri Lankan sweets and desserts facts for kids

Sri Lanka is a beautiful island country in South Asia. It's famous for its delicious sweets and desserts! These tasty treats are a big part of Sri Lankan culture.

You'll find desserts often served after main meals. Sweets, on the other hand, are usually enjoyed during tea time. Many Sri Lankan sweets and desserts use local spices. They also get their sweetness from jaggery and kithul (Caryota urens) treacle. These natural sweeteners are made right there in Sri Lanka. One of the most famous Sri Lankan sweets is called Kawum.

Delicious Desserts

Sri Lankan desserts are a wonderful way to end a meal. They often use fresh ingredients like coconut milk and local fruits.

Name	Image	Main Ingredients	What Makes it Special
Watalappam		Coconut milk, jaggery, eggs, spices (cardamom, cloves)	This is a very popular dessert, especially among Sri Lankan Muslims during Ramadan. You'll often see it at weddings and other special parties.
Buffalo curd		Buffalo milk, starter culture	Very popular in southern Sri Lanka. People enjoy it at weddings, special gatherings, and as a regular treat at home.
Kirala (Lumnitzera littorea) Fruit Milk		Kirala fruits, treacle	This is a special dessert drink. It's quite popular in southern Sri Lanka.
Kithul Flour Pudding		Kithul flour, coconut milk, jaggery or sugar, spices	A favorite dessert for many Sinhalese people. You might find it in some small restaurants.
Wood Apple Milk		Wood apple, coconut milk, sugar	This is another very popular dessert drink. It's made from the unique wood apple fruit.
Sago Pudding		Sago, sugar, milk, eggs	This dessert is loved by all communities in Sri Lanka. It's often served at Tamil weddings and cultural festivals.

Sweet Treats

Traditional Sri Lankan sweets often use rice flour, treacle, and coconut milk. Treacle is a sweet syrup. It's made from the sap of palm trees, like coconut or "Kithul" (Caryota urens) trees.

Name	Image	Main Ingredients	What Makes it Special
Aasmi		Rice flour, coconut milk, and cinnamon leaves juice	This sweet is deep-fried but served cool. It's a popular treat for Sinhalese New Year and other special events.
Aluwa		Rice flour, sugar, milk, butter, spices (cardamom, cloves)	A popular sweet among Sinhalese people. It's often served at cultural festivals.
Athirasa		Rice flour, treacle, coconut milk	This is a very important and popular Sinhalese sweet. It's shaped like a diamond or circle and deep-fried in hot oil.
Bibikkan		Semolina, raisins, treacle, rice flour, scraped coconut, spices	This sweet is similar to a fruit cake. It's rich and flavorful.
Dosi		Fruit, sugar, water	These are candied fruits, meaning fruits preserved in sugar syrup.
Green Gram Cake (Mung Kevum)		Rice flour, mung flour, treacle, ghee, spices	A popular Sinhalese sweet that is fried in oil. It's often enjoyed at cultural events.
Halapa		Rice flour, kurakkan flour	This sweet is usually wrapped in a leaf, giving it a unique flavor and look.
Kalu Dodol		kithul jaggery, rice flour, coconut milk, and cashew nuts	This is a type of Sri Lankan dodol. It's a common sweet at home, often served at tea time and special events. It's made by boiling coconut milk and kithul jaggery, then adding rice flour, cashew nuts, and spices.
Kesari bhath		Rava, cardamom, sugar, ghee	This sweet originally comes from South India. It's now very popular among Tamils in Sri Lanka, who make it for celebrations.
Kevum (Oil Cake)		Rice flour, treacle, coconut milk	A very popular Sinhalese sweet. Each one is fried individually in hot oil. The small bump on top gives it the name 'konda', which means 'tied hair'.
Kiri Aluwa (Milk Toffee)		Condensed milk, sugar, cashew nuts, cardamom	This is a soft, sweet milk toffee. It melts in your mouth!
Kokis		Rice flour, coconut milk	These are crispy, biscuit-like treats. They originally came from the Dutch.
Lavariya		Rice flour, Pol Pani	These are soft string hoppers (a type of noodle) filled with sweet, caramelized coconut.
Undu Walalu/Undu Wal or Pani Walalu		Urad bean flour and kithul treacle	These are tasty, crispy tubes filled with kithul treacle. They might look a bit unusual, but they are a unique and delicious sweet from Sri Lanka.
Weli Thalapa		Rice flour, scraped coconut, kithul or coconut treacle, spices	This is a common sweet enjoyed at home, often during tea time. It's made in two steps: first, a rice flour mix is prepared, then it's mixed with kithul or coconut treacle.

See also

• Sri Lankan cuisine
• List of desserts