Uda Balum, the Traditional Sweet you have to look up while eating
Everyone in Sri Lanka knows that they are many different types of sweets from each region. This Uda Balum sweet is popular in the up country regions of Sri Lanka.
The reason it is called Uda Balum is because the filling is a powder. You have to look up while eating it otherwise it will spill all over your clothes.
In this recipe, we added half a teaspoon of Baking Powder. When they made this in olden times, they would add the sap from cutting a Coconut Flower since they did not have Baking Powder. Traditionally, they would add Sookiri which are translucent Sugar cubes but you can add regular Sugar cubes or Sugar instead.
The filling for this Uda Balum is a dry filling instead of a wet filling. We do not add any Water. We added Kithul Jaggery but even after adding it, the filling must be a dry consistency (like sand) but where the particles kind of stick together.
There is another version of these Uda Balum from the Southern Province. The only differences are that they would add Coconut Oil instead of Coconut Milk and when they flatten the dough, they would flatten it on top of a clay pot that was covered by a cotton cloth.
You can keep these Uda Balum for up to 1 month in an airtight container.
Ingredients
- 350g of Rice Flour
- 50g of All Purpose Flour
- Half a tsp of Baking Powder
- Salt
- Thick Coconut Milk
- 50g of Sookiri (you can use sugar cubes or just use regular Sugar)
- 100g of Green Gram
- Sesame Seeds
- Cumin Seeds
- Kithul Jaggery (can use Kithul Treacle or even Coconut Treacle)
Instructions
- Add 250g of Rice Flour into a bowl.
- Add 50g of All Purpose Flour.
- Add half a tsp of Baking Powder.
- Add Salt to taste.
- Mix everything together thoroughly using your hands.
- While adding thick Coconut Milk, a little at a time, mix and form the dough.
- Cover the bowl and set it aside for 30 minutes to an hour to let the dough rise.
- Add 50g of Sookiri to a blender.
- Blend coarsely into a powder.
- Add the Sugar mixture into a bowl.
- Next, toast 100g of Green Gram.
- After toasting, add it into a blender.
- Blend coarsely into a powder.
- Add this Green Gram powder into the Sugar mixture bowl.
- Toast 100g of Rice Flour and add it into the bowl.
- Add some Sesame Seeds.
- Add some toasted Cumin Seeds.
- Add Salt to taste.
- Mix everything together thoroughly using your hands.
- Add Coconut Treacle, a little at a time, while mixing until you have a dry mixture that lightly sticks together.
- After letting the dough rest for 1 hour, break it into smaller pieces and shape each piece into a ball.
- Rub some Coconut Oil in your hands.
- Take each dough piece and flatten it (not too thin).
- Deep fry each dough piece (make sure to fry both sides).
- Take each of the fried Uda Balum and make a hole on top (sometimes frying it will create a hole).
- Fill each of the Uda Balum by adding the dry filling through the hole.
Photos
