Name: Certaikkai
Yield: Serves 4-6 as a snack
Cuisine: Sri Lanka
Ingredients: 440 g (15½ oz/2 cups) sugar; 1½ tablespoons roasted black gram (ulundu) flour*; 100 g (3½ oz/⅔ cup) white sesame seeds; 120 g (4¼ oz/1 cup) fine white rice flour; ¾ tablespoon green gram* (dried mung beans); 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) coconut cream*; 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) vegetable oil, for frying; 80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ cup) coconut milk*

Preparation info

Serves
4-6
as a snack

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka

By Bree Hutchins

Published 2013

About

This is a traditional fried sesame seed sweet found only in Valvettithurai and not in other parts of Sri Lanka. When we cooked these, neither Bamini nor I could wait for the sweets to cool properly before popping a few in our mouths — they are delicious and very addictive!

Ingredients

¾ tablespoon green gram* (dried mung beans)
120 g (4¼ oz/

Method

To prepare the mixed gram flour, dry-roast the green gram in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat for 4 minutes. Cool slightly, then using a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder), pound the green gram into a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl and combine with the rice flour and black gram flour.

Sift the mixed gram flour into a large bowl and mix in the sesame seeds. P