Kevum or Kavum (Sinhalese: කැවුම්) is a deep-fried, sweet Sri Lankan pastry 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 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 (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 (Sinhalese: කොණ්ඩ) is the Sinhala word for a lock of hair, a shape the konda kevum resembles. It is shaped by hand and without a special mold.
  • Naran kevum (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 (Sinhalese: තල කැවුම්) - sesame kevum have sesame in the kevum dough.
  • Undu kevum (Sinhalese: උඳු කැවුම්) - dal kevum is kevum flavored with urad dal.
  • Mun kevum (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.