Hambanthota Kalu Dodol- A Sri Lankan Sweet and Sweet Memories

Kalu Dodol

Kalu Dodol is a popular sweet in Sri Lanka. Hambantota, a district in Southern province of Sri Lanka is famous for this special sweet meet and of course Hambantota kalu dodol still keep its unique taste.

During last November, I was in Sri Lanka for a holiday and fortunate to visit Southern parts of Sri Lanka. With the roots to southern Sri Lanka, we spent most of our school holidays in our grandparents homes and I have lot of nice memories in this special part of the tiny island Sri Lanka. This time, I visited southern Sri Lanka with lot of memories and eager to experience most of my favourite food & places.

Now it is time to write those moments and share with the world. I am not sure how to start and from where to start. Therefore, finally thought of sharing about the famous ‘hambantota Kalu dodol’!

Ok,I must admit, the name of this sweet meat is ‘kalu dodol’.Hambantota is a city which is famous for tasty ‘kalu dodol’.Therefore both these words go together.

If you visit Sri Lanka for a holiday, you’ll be able to find this traditional sweet in most parts of the country. But, I must say, you’ll experience bit different tastes in other districts.

Our way to Hambanthota through well developed roads

Now, back to the topic! I remember those good old days, always stopped to buy or taste ‘Kalu dodol’ in Hambantota. This time, the country had gone through lot of changes. Unlike earlier, this time it only took few hours to travel to Thissamaharamaya through Hambantota. Roads are well constructed and the area is developed much.

On our way back from Thissamaharamaya, we stopped at Hambantotoa to buy ‘Kalu dodol’.

Dodol is a traditional sweet and believed it was introduced during the Portuguese ruling time. Dodol is not a unique food of Sri Lanka. You can still find different versions of Dodol in other Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. I’ve tasted dodol from Malaysia and found Sri Lankan Kalu dodol is bit different from the Dodol of Malaysia.

Kalu Dodol selling stalls at Hambanthota

There were few stalls selling kalu dodol. We entered in to one shop. My memories said that this time these places are less crowded. 

Kalu Dodol selling stalls at Hambanthota

I remember those days these shops were crowded and also lot of sweets were hanging around. The day we visited, it was calm and a quiet place with few visitors.

There were few types of ‘Kalu dodol’ for different prices. As per the seller, they have priced ‘kalu dodol’ according to the quality and the ingredients used.

Kalu Dodol made with Jaggery

Usually kalu dodol is cooked with Coconut and jaggery/or sugar. The best taste is achieved with jaggery. Adding of cashew nuts is for more taste and it tastes more with more cashews.

In this stall, the most expensive dodol were made with jaggery. A kilo is about 400+ Rs.(Around S$4)

The other grade was made with sugar and the price was lower.

Kalu Dodol made with Sugar

We could sample all four different Kalu dodol.

Here are our ideas.

• Kalu dodol made with Jaggery looks brownish and tastes sweet and smooth.

Kalu Dodol made with Jaggery

• Kalu dodol made with sugar appeared in black and those were not soft as dodol made with jaggery. 

Kalu Dodol made of Sugar

Finally, we decided to buy kalu dodol made with  jaggery. Actually there was a difference in the taste.Kalu dodol with jagerry was much tastier.

Clay pots and coin banks

Colourful Clay Coin Banks

Sri Lankan sweets