Today’s Jaffna specialty snack recipe is that of “sippi sohi” (sea-shells). The snack actually resembles sea-shells if made in the traditional way. However, my mother generally makes her own colourful version of the sweet.

Sippi Sohi

Time taken: 45 mins

Serves 6 – 8 persons

Ingredients:

• Rice flour – 1 cup, roasted
• Urad dhal/ black gram flour – ¼ cup, roasted
• Coconut milk – 1 cup
• Sugar – ¼ cup
• Water – 4 tbsp
• Food colouring – optional
• Oil, for deep-frying

Method:

1. Combine the roasted rice flour and the roasted urad dhal flour and keep aside.
2. Heat 1 cup of coconut milk, with a little salt, over medium heat. Once cooked, remove from stove and cool.
3. When the milk has cooled slightly but is still warm, stir in the rice flour to make the dough.
4. Roll out the dough and cut into little pieces. Alternatively, the traditional way of squeezing the dough through the mold can be used.
5. Heat the oil and deep-fry the little pieces “sippi sohi” and transfer the fried pieces to a tray lined with grease absorbing paper.
6. Prepare the sugar syrup by heating the sugar with water in a saucepan over medium heat.
7. Food colouring can be added to the syrup, while heating in the saucepan. My mother used red food colouring here to have a colourful twist on the traditional plain syrup.
8. Soak the fried “sippi sohi” into the sugar syrup till they are well coated and dry up.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.