Kiribath () is a traditional

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 dish made from

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

. It is prepared by cooking rice with

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

, hence this name, and can be considered a form of

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include ...

rice pudding Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and commonly other ingredients such as sweeteners, spices, flavourings and sometimes eggs. Variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly c ...

. Kiribath is an essential dish in

Sri Lankan cuisine Sri Lankan cuisine is known for its particular combinations of herbs, spices, fish, vegetables, rices, and fruits. The cuisine is highly centered around many varieties of rice, as well as coconut which is a ubiquitous plant throughout the count ...

. It is very commonly served for

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

on the first day of each month and also has the added significance of being eaten for any auspicious moment throughout one's lifetime which are marking times of transition. It is one of the more renowned traditional dishes in

Etymology

The word is a compound with a transparent meaning in the

Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first ...

, where ''Kiri'' (කිරි) means "milk" and ''bath'' ( බත්) means "rice".

History

The origins of kiribath are not clear, although the dish seems to be unique to Sri Lanka. It is said that Sujata offered kiribath to

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

whilst he was meditating under the

bodhi The English term ''enlightenment'' is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably ''bodhi'' and ''vimutti''. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi'') means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakene ...

tree, just before attaining enlightenment.

Occasions

In a Sinhalese home, and during Sinhalese holidays and ceremonies kiribath plays a significant role. The dish celebrates festive or auspicious occasions and symbolises the beginning of new pursuits or transitions in life. Traditionally, it is also eaten by families on the first day of each month.

New Year

Kiribath has a very important role for the Sinhalese in celebrating the Sinhalese New Year where it will be consumed as the first meal of the year. At the dawn of the new year, a hearth within the household is lit by the lady of the house and the traditional pot of kiribath is boiled. Sometimes rice that has been kept especially for this occasion will be used, as this occasion requires the best rice, which is expressed in terms of taste. When the cooking is finished, after a series of observances and rituals the family begins to eat, but not before making an offering to the Buddha and the gods first. The family will eat from the same rice, as if they are symbolically dining together with the Buddha and the deities. During the Sinhalese New Year, or on any other special occasion, kiribath will be served as the main dish and centrepiece of the meal. At the table, kiribath is served alongside traditional sweets like Kevum, Kokis,

bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...

and many other delicacies. After this, the oil lamp is lit and the first meal of the year commences. The kiribath symbolises life and so it is fed to the rest of the family by the head of the family, either the father or the mother, to their progenitors for the New Year.

Feeding ceremony

Kiribath is traditionally the first solid food fed to an infant.

Weddings

Kiribath is fed by bridegrooms to brides at their wedding.

Ingredients and preparation

;Ingredients Kiribath is typically prepared from four basic components: white short-grain rice, thick coconut milk or basic milk, water and salt to taste. It is made from starchy and sticky rice, traditionally a variety known as rathu haal or rathu kakulu haal for its neutral flavour and cooking qualities. ;Preparation The rice is cooked in

, sometimes with added ingredients such as

sesame seeds Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for it ...

or cashews. Kiribath is commonly compressed and cut into diamond or square shaped blocks before serving. ;Consumption Kiribath is usually served with lunumiris, a relish made of red onions, mixed with chili flakes, Maldives fish,

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, and lime. It can also be consumed with seeni sambol,

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

, bananas, hoppers, bread and roti. Although served onto the plate with a spoon, kiribath is traditionally eaten by hand to mix with the lunumiris.

Variations

There are variations of kiribath including:

Mung kiribath

Mung kiribath () is a variation of Kiribath made by adding boiled

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 ...

to the milk rice. The same recipe and procedure can be followed to make this variation. It is often prepared in Buddhist temples.

Imbul kiribath

Imbul kiribath () is a sweet variation of the original. It is made by taking a small amount of milk rice, made in the regular process, and spreading it on a banana leaf. A sweet filling made of coconut and jaggery, called Pani pol, is placed in the center. The banana leaf is folded and rolled vertically and pressed firmly, giving it its unusual cylindrical shape.

References

External links

Youtube: Kiribath & Lunu Miris - UYAMU - YAMU TV
{{Rice dishes Sri Lankan rice dishes Rice dishes Foods containing coconut Sinhalese New Year foods Ceremonial food and drink