A Traditional Burmese Dessert

Pathein Halawa

Pathein Halawa is a traditional Burmese dessert or mont. The dessert is a pudding cooked using glutinous rice flour, rice flour, coconut, sugar, poppy seeds, butter, and milk, and has 2 primary variants: wet and dry. It is particularly popular in the Irrawaddy Delta town of Pathein, in lower Myanmar. It is considered a Pathein delicacy due to it first being sold in this town, and visitors traditionally purchase Pathein Halawa as a gift for relatives and friends when in Pathein.

If you go to Pathein, Halawa is a must-try. It’s a sweet dessert made of glutinous rice, butter, coconut milk, and poppy seeds. It has two versions - a loose form like smashed potato and a firmer one which is like a chocolate cake. It is sold in many shops and in small vans decorated with Pathein umberalla and playing folk songs.
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