Lavariya, a Srilankan sweet dumpling which is made from the sweet coconut stuffing wrapped by the lacey rice flour outer layer. When i was browsing for Srilankan recipe, this lavariya(nice name for a recipe, right?) recipe caught my attention.
It's like our poornam kozhukattai(modak) in an artistic way or we can say it's a merger of idiyappam and kozhukattai. Whatever it is, I really love the way it's made . So far, I have prepared this twice in the past 15 days, now you know how much I like this. They are so fun to make and most importantly it's absolutely delicious !!!
The basic recipe of the filing has been made with coconut & jaggery and flavored with cardamom powder. But I had seen a lot of recipes using cooked moong dal in addition to the coconut, so I tried both ways and liked them. Hence you can try this lavariya with moong dal stuffing or as simple as coconut stuffing.
The recipe that I'm sharing here has moong dal in it, but as said before, it's purely optional. And one more thing to mention here is that if you're making this for the first time, definitely it is gonna take a lot of time for shaping this lavariya,but I guess with little practice, it can be done in much less time.
Lavariya
Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Makes : 6-8
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Srilankan
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Srilankan
Ingredients
For dough
Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Sesame Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
For filling
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Moong dal - 3 tbsp
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Cardamon - 2
For dough
Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Sesame Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
For filling
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Moong dal - 3 tbsp
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Cardamon - 2
First let's make the filling.
Soak moong dal for 30 mins, then add into pan along with enough water, bring into boil.
Soak moong dal for 30 mins, then add into pan along with enough water, bring into boil.
Close the pan with lid and cook till dal is soft. If you press the dal between your fore finger and thumb, it should be mashed, that's the correct stage.
Drain the extra water and keep it aside, in a pan add the jaggery and water just enough to immerse the jaggery.
Let the jaggery melts completely, drain the jaggery syrup and discard the impurities. Pour the syrup again into the pan and turn on the heat.
Add the grated coconut, cooked dal and crushed cardamom.
Let it cook until all comes together as a thick mass. Turn the heat off and let it cool.
Now for the outer filling,heat the water in a sauce pan along with salt and oil.
Let the water comes to boil, switch off the flame and immediately pour into the measured flour.
Mix it with spatula vigorously until all comes together. Now take the idiyappam maker, take a log of dough and add into the idiyappam maker.
Take a piece of banana leaf/butter paper and squeeze the dough into concentric circle just like idiyappam, then place a tbsp of filling in the center.
Now gently fold the banana leaf so that the outer layer covers the inner filling. Now hold the banana leaf on both sides and gently roll it from one side to other side for few times, it helps the dough to stick together and form a cylinder shape. 
Place it on the greased steamer plate and steam it for 6-8 mins.
Tada, Tasty Lavariya is ready. Serve it with a cup of tea.
Related: How to make Srilankan Mani Pittu
- While shaping the lavariya, be gentle, otherwise the string would merge and you can't see the lace like texture on the outside
- You can vary the proportion of moong dal and coconut as per your liking.
- Taste best when it's hot.
- You can cook the dal in pressure cooker too, but make sure that it doesn't turn into mushy.
Wow, lacy covering is so beautiful and delicious dumpling.
ReplyDeleteThanks Usha
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ReplyDeleteSimply superb Sandhiya, you have really done this so well!..Even I bookmarked it for my week..lets see how it works out..:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Srivalli. I'm sure that you will like it, give a try!!
DeleteThe Srilankan sweet dumpling looks super inviting. I too am bookmarking to try. What can I use instead of banana leaf??
ReplyDeleteThanks Sapana. I think you can use butter paper or anything that's non sticky to shape them
DeleteMy first choice for Srilankan cuisine was this Lavariya, since hubby went for a trip i skipped this dish and went with an another dish to please my kids tastebuds. Lavariya looks simply fabulous Sandhiya.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Priya. Even I was so glad that i found this recipe and tried it. It was simply awesome !!!
DeleteThat is an amazing lacy covering for the classic filling.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting recipe. It looks and sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteThats amazing. Looks absolutely mouthwatering.
ReplyDeleteWow..that is a very very pretty looking dumpling..loving its lacy texture.
ReplyDeleteWow,looks beautiful. Bookmarked.
ReplyDeleteOh, such a lovely dish.. Idiyappam with an sweet stuffing - can imagine the deliciousness!
ReplyDeleteThat looks so delicate and this is totally new to me. I am definitely giving this a try. Bookmarking this now!
ReplyDeletewow, that looks so amazing, very pretty dumpling! that filling i can eat it as such!! the pictures have come out so well, bookmarking this to try!
ReplyDeleteNice...I will try it.
ReplyDeleteThanks and let me know how you like it.
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