Laveriya is a traditional Sinhalese sweet — rice flour dough filled with a mixture of grated coconut and kithul treacle, wrapped in banana leaves, and steamed. The banana leaf imparts its fragrance to the dough, making laveriya one of the most aromatic of all Sri Lankan pithas, a specialty of the southern coast.
Laveriya is a traditional Sinhalese pitha (rice cake) from the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Unlike other pithas that are fried or boiled, laveriya is steamed in banana leaves — the leaf imparts a distinctive fragrance to the rice dough. The filling is a mixture of grated coconut and kithul treacle (palm sugar), sometimes flavored with cardamom. The dough is shaped into small pouches, filled, sealed, wrapped in banana leaf, and steamed. It is a specialty of the southern coastal belt (Galle, Matara), made for celebrations and the New Year.
A small, warm, pale-green pouch unwrapped from a banana leaf. The dough is soft and slightly chewy, fragrant with banana leaf; the inside bursts with sweet, sticky, caramel-flavored coconut-treacle filling. The combination of the fragrant dough and the intensely sweet filling is one of the most satisfying Sri Lankan sweets.
The dough must be made with boiling water (to gelatinize the rice starch and make it pliable). The banana leaf must be softened first (passed over a flame to make it flexible). The filling must be thick (not runny — it would leak). The steaming must be gentle (15-20 minutes — oversteaming makes the dough mushy).
Variations
Some add sesame to the filling; some add cardamom; some use different treacle; the size varies.
On the Palate
Where Laveriya sits in the Sri Lankan flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
7 steps · 1 hour active + 30 min waiting
- 110 min
Make dough: bring 250 ml water to a boil with 1/2 tsp salt; add 250 g rice flour; stir to a soft dough; knead smooth.
Watch outMake the dough with boiling water and knead it smooth — the hot water gelatinizes the rice starch so the dough turns pliable instead of crumbly.
- 25 min
Make filling: mix 150 g grated coconut, 80 g kithul treacle (or palm sugar), and 1/2 tsp cardamom powder.
- 33 min
Soften banana leaf squares by passing over a flame.
- 410 min
Take a ball of dough; flatten; place 1 tbsp filling; shape into a pouch; seal.
- 55 min
Place on a banana leaf square; wrap tightly.
- 618 min
Steam over boiling water 18 minutes.
Watch outSteam gently for the eighteen minutes and no longer — oversteaming turns the rice-flour dough soft and mushy.
- 71 min
Unwrap; serve warm.
Archive tool suggestions — not reviewed
These legacy suggestions have not been evidence-reviewed and are not presented as required tools.
