Kattala Kan’dhi

Kandhi is a traditional Maldivian dessert drink that’s typically prepared with coconut milk, pandan leaves, ground rice, sugar, jasmine infused water and a vegetable, root vegetable or fruit.

Here we have the recipe for Kattala (sweet potato) Kandhi.

Luckily, we had some Maafen (jasmine infused water) with us when we were preparing the recipe, so we’ve used that. If you don’t have it, fret not, just replace the Maafen with regular water and mix in a tablespoon of rose water at the end of cooking, right after you switch off the stove.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 cups diced sweet potato (1 cm cubes)
• 3 cups water (for cooking sweet potato)
• 2 cups water
• 12 inches pandan (cut into 2 inch pieces)
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup water (for soaking rice flour)
• ½ cup rice flour (fine)
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 1 cup Maafen (jasmine infused water)

Instructions:

1. Wash, peel and dice the sweet potato into 1 cm cubes. You’ll need about 2 medium size sweet potatoes for this recipe.
2. Add 3 cups of water to a large pot and bring it to a boil and then add the sweet potato cubes. Boil the sweet potato until soft. For us this took 15 minutes. You can check whether they are done with a fork.
3. When the sweet potatoes are soft, drain and set aside.
4.  Add 2 cups water, pandan and sugar to a large pot. If you don’t have Maafen, add an extra cup of water. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Place the pot on top of the stove and bring the mixture to a boil.
5. While you wait for the mixture to boil, add ½ cup water and ½ cup rice flour to a small bowl. Mix and set aside.
6. When the mixture starts boiling, add the rice flour and water mixture to the pot and cook while stirring continuously until the rice is cooked and the mixture thickens. We cooked ours for 10 minutes.
7. Add the sweet potatoes, coconut milk and Maafen if you are using it. Mix to combine and then bring the mixture to a boil again. Then let the mixture gently simmer for another 10 minutes and that’s it. If you are using rose water instead of jasmine water, stir it in after you switch off the stove.