Kevum Explained

Kevum
Country:	Sri Lanka
Course:	Dessert
Type:	Sweet
Main Ingredient:	Rice flour, Treacle

Kevum or Kavum (Sinhala; Sinhalese: කැවුම්) is a deep-fried Sri Lankan sweet made from rice flour and kithul (sugar-palm) treacle, 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.^[1]

History

Kevum is mentioned in ancient Sri Lankan texts including the Ummagga Jatakaya, Saddharma Ratnawaliya and Pujawaliya.^[2]

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).^[3]

• Konda kevum (Sinhala; Sinhalese: කොණ්ඩ කැවුම්) - 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. Konda (Sinhala; Sinhalese: කොණ්ඩ) 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.
• Naran kevum (Sinhala; Sinhalese: නාරං කැවුම්) - mandarin kevum is the size and shape of a mandarin, colored yellow with saffron. Green gram flour and scraped coconut are added to the basic kevum mix of rice flour and treacle.
• Thala kevum (Sinhala; Sinhalese: තල කැවුම්) - sesame kevum has sesame in the kevum dough.
• Undu kevum (Sinhala; Sinhalese: උඳු කැවුම්) - dal kevum is kevum flavored with urad dal.
• Mun kevum (Sinhala; Sinhalese: මුං කැවුම්) - gram kevum adds green gram flour and saffron to the kevum mix of rice flour and treacle. The kevum are diamond shaped and yellow.
• Handi kevum (Sinhala; Sinhalese: හැඳි කැවුම්) - spoon kevun is flavored with cumin and fennel.

External links

• Aluth Avurudu Recipe: Kavum (Oil Cake) on inside.lk

Notes and References

1. News: Of Kiribath, Kavum and Kokis. 12 April 2014. Daily News. 13 April 2011.
2. News: Of Kiribath, Kavum and Kokis. 12 April 2014. Daily News. 13 April 2011.
3. News: Kariyawasam. Dayananda. Naran and Sedhi kavum. 13 April 2014. Sunday Times. 13 April 2003.