Watalappan: Spiced Coconut Custard

You know how sometimes people say "we should have you over for dinner," but it never happens. This was not one of those times. Less than a week after said small-talk we were officially invited to have a homemade Sri Lankan dinner at a friend's house. Yay! and then Argh! What should we bring? I wanted to bring Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Pineapple is tropical and should go well with the Southeast Asian food, yes? But the idea was tossed around that I make an authentic Lankan dessert. I'm a good girl and I did my research. Watalappan was the answer. Many sites describe it as "the King of Custards" and how can you go wrong with that!

Watalappan recipes online are pretty much the same. The ingredient quantities differ and some people use more or less spice but generally Watalappan is a coconut/jaggery/cardamom custard. Some recipes call for creamed coconut (not the same and coconut cream) but I chose the version(s) that used coconut milk. Chao Koh brand coconut milk and coconut cream have a good flavor and consistency and are not too expensive. Lately the coconut cream has seemed a tad watery, hopefully this is not a permanent problem. I was more concerned about finding jaggery. The Cook's Thesaurus describes jaggery

Pronunciation: JAG-uh-ree, Notes: This is a tan, unrefined sugar that is common in India. It's made from the sap of palm trees or sugar cane and is much more flavorful than granulated sugar. It's often sold in solid cakes, but it should crumble when you squeeze it. Look for it in Indian markets. Substitutes: Mix 1 C dark brown sugar + 2 teaspoons molasses OR palm sugar OR piloncillo OR brown sugar OR maple sugar OR date sugar

I found palm sugar at the local international market (the small round cakes in front) and was satisfied that this was the best I would find in our small town, but no! The shop keeper pointed out a entire box of jaggery (the cone shape on the left). Woot! The recipe has so few ingredients that the difference in flavor of jaggery versus brown sugar is noticeable.

Dissolve the jaggery in water over low heat. A fork works well for crumbling. To me, the jaggery tasted like pumpkin and brown sugar, but nobody agreed with that assessment. It's good; that's all you need to know.

 

It turns out that custard requires eggs! Who knew? And a darn lot of them too! This one uses ten - I've never used ten eggs at one time. Look at them. They are sooooo yellllooowww.

After adding the coconut milk and the spices to the dissolved jaggery, mix it slowly into the beaten eggs. Make sure the sugar mix has cooled down so it doesn't cook the eggs. It's not very pretty at this point (in fact it never looks that great, but it tastes great).

At this point I was unsure how to steam the custards. Evey recipe said STEAM but I don't have a steamer. I tried two methods; one of which worked and that's the one I will describe. It's the oven method (in case you were wondering the stove top method tasted okay but the texture was way off). I buttered the ramekins, filled them not quite to the top and secured two layers of wax paper over the top with a strong rubber band. Luckily the ramekins fit snugly in the oven safe pot. I filled the pot with water until it was halfway up the side of the ramekins and then covered the pot with a lid. I put this heavywobblyliquidy bit of fun in the oven and let it steam for an hour. Ta da!

 

The large bowl on the left was the less-than-success stove top method. I know it rattled around too much on stove and I think some liquid got in under the rubber lid making it spongy and not creamy. The ramekin oven version looks odd but tastes creamy and rich, some might say royal. As it turns out, this custard is so awesome that the friends who made the dinner had made the exact same dessert!

ready to travel

Sultana raisins and coconut cream - ready to eat! 

Recipe Time: Watalappan (Spiced Coconut Custard)
serves 12

10 Eggs
2 Cups thick Coconut milk
1 lb Jaggery
½ cup water
Pinch of Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Salt
1 tsp Cardamom

butter
rubberbands
wax paper
ramekins

1. Add the jaggery to the water and boil until the jaggery has melted.
2. Lightly beat the eggs.
3. Allow the sugar mixture to cool. Add the coconut milk and the spices to the sugar mixture.
4. Add melted jaggery and coconut milk a little at a time to the eggs and continue to beat.
5. Pour about 4 oz into each greased ramekin
6. Cover with wax paper and place in a ovensafe dish with a lid.
7. Add water to the baking dish until it reaches halfway up the side of a ramekin.
8. Steam in a 350 F oven for 1 hour.
9. Sprinkly with golden raisins before serving.