Uduwel, better known as pani walalu or undu walalu, is a Sri Lankan sweet of crisp, lacy coils made from ground urad dal (black gram, undu in Sinhala), fried and then dipped in warm treacle. The name describes the dish: undu is the lentil, walalu are the rings or coils, and pani is the treacle they are soaked in. The coils are crisp and syrupy outside, soft and slightly tangy inside, and they are one of the sweets made for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April, set out on the New Year table alongside kokis and kavum.
The work is spread over a day: the lentils soak overnight, the batter ferments for about 12 hours, and only then do you fry. The fermentation is what makes the coils puff, stay hollow in the middle and taste faintly sour against the sweet kithul treacle.
How to make uduwel (pani walalu)
- Makes about 15 coils
- Prep: 20 minutes (+ 8 hours soaking and 12 hours fermenting)
- Cook: 45 minutes
- Difficulty: Challenging
For the batter
- 200 g urad dal (skinned split black gram, undu)
- 60 g fine white rice flour
- 60 to 100 ml thick coconut milk, as needed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- About 1 litre coconut oil or vegetable oil, for deep frying
For the syrup
- 400 ml kithul treacle
- 125 ml water
Method
- Soak the dal. Wash the urad dal well and soak it in plenty of cold water for 8 to 10 hours or overnight.
- Grind. Drain thoroughly and blend to a very smooth, thick paste, adding only a spoonful or two of water if the blender stalls. No gritty bits should remain.
- Mix and ferment. Beat in the rice flour and enough coconut milk to make a stiff, smooth batter about as firm as well-mashed potato. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 12 hours, until small bubbles appear.
- Season. Gently fold in the salt without beating out the air.
- Warm the syrup. Heat the treacle and water in a wide pan over a low heat until just bubbling at the edges, then keep it warm on the lowest heat. Do not boil it down.
- Heat the oil. Heat about 4 cm of oil in a wide pan over a medium heat to about 170°C. A drop of batter should sink briefly, then rise and puff.
- Pipe the coils. Spoon the batter into a piping bag or cloth with a round opening of about 6 mm. Pipe it straight into the oil in loose, overlapping circles about 8 cm across, two or three coils at a time.
- Fry. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, turning once, until crisp and golden brown. Lift out and drain for a few seconds.
- Soak in treacle. Drop the hot coils into the warm syrup for about 1 minute, turning once, then lift them onto a plate. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Why does the batter need to ferment?
Fermentation fills the ground dal with tiny bubbles. In the hot oil they expand, so each strand puffs and turns hollow rather than frying into a dense, hard rope. It also gives the sour note that balances the treacle. Keep the batter somewhere warm; in a cool kitchen it may need longer. Salt slows fermentation, which is why it goes in afterwards. Some cooks skip fermenting and fry the batter the same day, which gives a denser coil.
Why do my coils fall apart or turn out flat?
- Batter too soft: the strands spread and lose their shape. Beat in a spoonful of rice flour; the batter should hold a ridge when piped.
- Oil too cool: the coils soak up oil and go soggy. Oil too hot: they brown before they puff and cook through. Keep the heat steady at medium.
- Syrup too hot or too thick: the coils go soft at once. The treacle should be warm and runny, not boiling.
What can you use instead of kithul treacle?
A syrup of dark brown sugar or jaggery works: warm about 400 g sugar with 125 ml water and a pinch of salt until it dissolves and just bubbles. Coconut treacle can be used in the same way as kithul. Kithul treacle comes from the sap of the kithul palm, collected by hand; the page on kithul tapping explains how. The batter uses coconut milk and rice flour, so the dish as written contains no wheat or animal products.
How long do pani walalu keep?
Freshly dipped coils are at their crispest on the day they are made. The older way to keep them is to pack the coils into a jar or pot and pour the remaining treacle over them; stored like this at room temperature they last for up to a week, turning soft and saturated with syrup. Both textures have their fans.
When are they made?
Pani walalu are above all a New Year sweet, made in the days before Avurudu, whose rituals follow the auspicious times published each year as the Avurudu nakath. They sit on the table with the other sweets and are shared with neighbours and relatives. They are also sold in sweet shops at other times of year.
