Making Halapa the Classic and the Southern Way
Halapa is a traditional sweet that is perfect for teatime. It is made from Kurakkan Flour (Ragi Flour or Finger Millet). In this recipe, we make Halapa 2 different ways by making it the common way and then the Southern Province way.
Ingredients
- 250g of Sugar (adjust to the amount you are making)
- 400g of Kurakkan Flour (Ragi or Finger Millet)
- 100g of All Purpose Flour
- Salt
- Coconut from a grated half of a Coconut
- Some Cumin Seeds
- Some Kenda Leaves
- Some Coconut Oil
- Pol Pani (Sweet Coconut) if you are making the Southern way
Instructions
Common Way
- Melt 2 tbsp of Sugar in a saucepan.
- When the Sugar is turning brown, add half a cup of Water.
- Add 250g of Sugar.
- Add some Salt.
- Stir frequently until all of the Sugar has melted.
- Add 400g of Kurakkan Flour to a bowl.
- Add 100g of All Purpose Flour.
- Add the Coconut from a grated half of a Coconut.
- Add some Cumin Seeds.
- Now mix everything together thoroughly by hand.
- Add the Kurakkan Flour mixture to the Sugar mixture.
- Under low heat, mix everything together thoroughly.
- Let the mixture cool down and then break pieces of it and form round shapes.
- Now rub some Coconut Oil on the Kenda Leaves.
- Now take one of the pieces and place it on one side of the Kenda Leaf.
- Close the other half of the Kenda Leaf and flatten it by hand.
- Repeat this for each of the pieces.
Southern Way
- Melt 2 tbsp of Sugar in a saucepan.
- When the Sugar is turning brown, add half a cup of Water.
- Add 250g of Sugar.
- Add some Salt.
- Stir frequently and melt all the Sugar.
- Add 400g of Kurakkan Flour to a bowl.
- Add 100g of All Purpose Flour.
- Add the Coconut from a grated half of a Coconut.
- Add the Cumin Seeds.
- Now mix everything together thoroughly by hand.
- Add the Kurakkan Flour mixture to the Sugar mixture.
- Under low heat, mix everything together thoroughly.
- Let the mixture cool down and then break pieces of it and form round shapes.
- Now rub some Coconut Oil on the Kenda Leaves.
- Now take one of the pieces and place it in the middle the Kenda Leaf.
- Flatten the piece by hand.
- Now place the Pol Pani on top of the flattened piece.
- Fold the Kenda Leaf.
- Repeat for each of the pieces.
Final Steps
- You can use a steamer or even a rice cooker to steam this.
- Steam for about half an hour.
- While steaming, after about 15 minutes, make sure to flip the Leaves.