List of Sri Lankan sweets and desserts
This is a list of notable Sri Lankan sweets and desserts. Sri Lanka is well known throughout South Asia for sweets and desserts originating from there. Desserts are usually served as part of main meals, whereas sweets are consumed at tea times.
Many Sri Lankan desserts and sweets contain domestic spices, jaggery and kithul treacle. Locally made treacle and jaggery are the most common sweeteners.
Desserts
Sweets
Commonly used ingredients across traditional Sri Lankan sweets are Rice Floor, Treacle and Coconut Milk. Treacle is a food sweetening syrup made from the sap oozing from "tapped" blossoms of palm trees, particularly, Coconut or "Kithul".| Name | Image | Main ingredients | Description |
| Aluwa | Rice flour, sugar, milk, butter, spices | Popular among Sinhalese. Served at cultural festivals. | |
| Athirasa | Rice flour, treacle, coconut milk | A very popular and culturally important Sinhalese sweet.Diamond or round shaped batter deep fried in hot oil. | |
| Oil Cake | Rice flour, treacle, coconut milk | A very popular Sinhalese sweet. Fried in hot oil pan individually.The small bump at top gives the name 'konda'.Ladies with special skill to get "Kanda" wins respect. | |
| Bibikkan | Semolina, raisins, treacle, rice flour, scrapped coconut, spices and flavours | Similar to fruit cake. | |
| Sowboro | Flour,Sugar,Rulan, scraped coconut,Butter and salt | Popular biscuit among Sinhalese.available only in village boutiques and fairs. | |
| Undu Walalu/Undu Wal or Pani Walalu | Urad bean flour and kithul treacle | Tasty crispy tubes filled with Kithul treacle. Looks like earthworm but a world class sweet, unique to Sri Lanka. | |
| Green Gram cake | Rice flour, mung flour, treacle, ghee, spices | A popular Sinhalese sweet fried in oil often used at cultural events. | |
| Weli Thalapa | Rice flour, scraped coconut, Kitul or coconut treacle, spices | Household sweet, usually served at tea time.Prepared in two step process, first is to prepare Pittu with Rice flour and second to mix that with Kitul / Coconut treacle. | |
| Kalu Dodol | kithul jaggery, rice flour, coconut milk, and cashew nuts | Sri Lankan dodol. Household sweet, usually served at tea time and special events.Prepared by boiling Coconut milk and Kitul Juggery in big Pan and adding rice flour, cashew nut and spices to the reduced mix. | |
| Aggala | Kithul treacle, rice flour, pepper | Spicy sweet. Mostly prepared for tea time in villages. | |
| Popo | Coconut, sugar, flour, essence | Used in rituals and special events. | |
| Kokis | Rice flour, coconut milk | Crispy biscuit-like, Of Dutch origin | |
| Arsmi | Rice flour / Nanu made of Dauwul Kurundu, honey | A popular sweet prepared for tea and special events. | |
| Halapa | rice flour, kurakkan flour | It's usually wrapped in a leaf. | |
| Kesari | Rava, cardamon, sugar, ghee | Normally cooked by tamils for celebrations |