Kevum or Kavum () is a deep-fried

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n sweet made from rice flour and kithul (sugar-palm)

treacle Treacle () is any uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar.Oxford Dictionary The most common forms of treacle are golden syrup, a pale variety, and black treacle, a darker variety similar to molasses. Black treacle has a distinctiv ...

, with a number of variants adding additional ingredients. It is also known as ''oil cake''. Kevum is traditionally given and consumed during celebrations of Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

History

Kevum is mentioned in ancient Sri Lankan texts including the ''Ummagga Jatakaya'', ''Saddharma Ratnawaliya'' and ''Pujawaliya''.

Varieties

The ''Dhathuwansaya'', an ancient Sinhala text, mentions 18 kinds of kevum including Sedhi Kevum, Mun Kevum, Ulundu Kevum, Uthupu (shaped using a coconut shell) and Ginipu (fire kevum). * Konda kevum () - ''hair kevum'' is the most common variant. It has a dark reddish color. The dough of rice flour and kithul treacle is flavored with salt and

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

. Konda () is the Sinhala word for hair, and is named so as the shape of the konda kevum resembles hair tied up into a bun. It is shaped by hand and without a special

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

. * Naran kevum () - ''mandarin kevum'' is the size and shape of a mandarin, colored yellow with

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

Green gram The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

flour and scraped coconut are added to the basic kevum mix of rice flour and treacle. * Thala kevum () - ''sesame kevum'' has sesame in the kevum dough. * Undu kevum () - ''dal kevum'' is kevum flavored with

urad dal The black gram or urad bean (''Vigna mungo'') is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the genus ''Phaseolus'' to ''Vigna''. The product sold as black gram is usually the whole urad bean, wher ...

. * Mun kevum () - ''gram kevum'' adds

green gram The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

flour and saffron to the kevum mix of rice flour and treacle. The kevum are diamond shaped and yellow. * Handi kevum () - '' spoon kevun'' is flavored with cumin and fennel.

References

External links

Aluth Avurudu Recipe: Kavum (Oil Cake) on inside.lk
{{Sri Lankan cuisine Sri Lankan desserts and sweets Sinhalese New Year foods