Rasavalli Kilangu / இராசவள்ளி கிழங்கு
Rasavalli Kilangu is a sweet snack/dessert made using purple yam. It has a beautiful color and a light smell that you will notice when boiling the kilangu.
This is one of my most favorite desserts. My mother made it for me often growing up and whenever I visited home as an adult. Once when visiting Sri Lanka, my relatives found out how much I loved this snack. Every house I visited served us this saying they heard I loved it. Even after eating this 10+ times in one month, it’s still one of my favorites, so definitely try it out.
This is something you should definitely try even if it looks different and you’re uncertain of whether you would like it. I used to make this in college every now and then. After trying it once, my Italian friend visited me late in the evening and the first thing he asked was, “could you make me that purple thing?”. I don’t typically eat this at night, but why not?
This tastes best when the kilangu is good, but finding good kilangu has been generally hit or miss for me. Sometimes I use frozen kilangu, like Deep’s Frozen Ratalu.
I generally try to reduce the sugar in whatever I make. If I know someone has a sweet tooth, I may add a little bit more sugar to that person’s specific bowl of rasavalli kilangu.
Take a look at a video here if the visual is useful.
Rasavali Kilangu
Ingredients
- 400 g Purple Yam/Rasavali Kilangu (இராசவள்ளி கிழங்கு)
- 3 cups Water (தண்ணீர்)
- 5-6 tbsp Sugar (சீனி)
- ½-¾ cup Thick Coconut Milk (தேங்காய்ப்பால்)
Instructions
- Cut the rasavalli kilangu into small cubes. This is so they cook faster when boiled.
- Put the kilangu in a pot and cover with water. The water can be adjusted as needed, but should be enough to cover the kilangu completely. It may come around to 3 cups of water.
- Let the water come to a boil and allow it to continue boiling until the kilangu softens. This takes about 20-25 mins.
- As the kilangu softens, mash them into the water. The mixture should become purple and thicker. The water should continue evaporating in the heat.
- When most of the kilangu has been mashed (some will continue dissolving in the heat), pour in the coconut milk and mix well.
- Add sugar and mix well. Add to taste as this will depend on the amount of kilangu, water, and coconut milk added.
- Lower the flame to medium heat and continue mashing any large kilangu cubes. I don't mash all the pieces to leave some texture to the snack, but it's up to preference.
