A dense, sweet cake made from boiled taro root, coconut, sugar, and cardamom, baked until golden and served in diamond-shaped pieces.
Ingredients
500g taro root, peeled and cubed
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1 cup sugar
200ml coconut milk
4 cardamom pods, ground
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp ghee
Pinch of salt
Instructions
1Boil taro root in salted water until very tender, about twenty minutes. Drain completely.
2Mash the taro until smooth with no lumps. Mix in grated coconut, sugar, coconut milk, and ground cardamom.
3Add beaten eggs and vanilla extract. Stir until the mixture is smooth and uniform.
4Grease a baking pan with ghee. Pour in the taro mixture and smooth the top evenly.
5Bake at 170C for thirty-five to forty minutes until the top is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.
6Cool in the pan for fifteen minutes, then cut into diamond or square shapes. Serve at room temperature.
Did You Know?
Every Maldivian island claims their version of Aluvi Boakibaa is the best, and inter-island debates about the ideal coconut-to-taro ratio are surprisingly passionate.