A traditional dessert beverage from the Maldives, kandhi is usually served at special events like Ramadan and Eid. It’s a well-liked, cozy beverage that’s best enjoyed on rainy days.
The standard ingredients of a kandhi are coconut milk, pandan leaves, ground rice, sugar, and water infused with jasmine; however, since jasmine water is becoming more difficult to get, rose water is now used instead, and contemporary kandhi recipes also substitute cornflour for ground rice.
Kashikeyo Kan’dhi
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp. rice flour
- ¼ cup water (for soaking rice flour)
- 1 ½ cups water (for cooking kashikeyo)
- 1 cup thinly sliced kashikeyo
- 6 inches pandan
- 7 cardamom pods
- 1 ½ cups water (for the kan’dhi)
- ½ cup sugar (or to taste)
- ½ cup thick coconut milk
- 2 tsp. rosewater
Guidelines:
- Place the rice flour in a bowl, stir in ¼ cup water, and put aside.
Fill a pot with 1 ½ cups water and bring it to a boil. - Incorporate the cardamom pods, pandan (raanbaa), and kashikeyo. Reduce the heat and simmer the mixture until the kashikeyo is very tender. This took us about thirty minutes.
- If straining is desired, strain the mixture immediately and return the liquid to the same pot after discarding the cardamom and pandan pods and kashikeyo bits. Simply move on to the next step if you choose not to strain the mixture. We left the pandan and cardamom in there, but you are welcome to remove them.
- After thoroughly mixing in 1 ½ cups water and sugar, bring it to a boil. Replace a portion of the water with maafen, or jasmine water, if you have any.
- Add the rice flour, which by now should have the consistency of a paste, once the mixture starts to boil.
- The mixture must now be heated until the rice flour is cooked through and the mixture thickens. It will require constant stirring to ensure a beautiful texture and the absence of lumps. This took us about fifteen minutes, but the time may vary based on the volume being produced. We cooked with the heat set to medium the entire time.
- Stir in the thick coconut milk and combine thoroughly once the mixture has thickened and the rice flour has cooked.
- Lastly, turn off the stove and, if used, stir in the rosewater.