Mung Kevum (මුං කැවුම්)

A unique sweetmeat in Sri Lanka, Mung Kevum is a crowd pleaser during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year as well as any other auspicious occasion. You may think it is an arduous task, but on the contrary. You can enjoy a bit of Sri Lankan flavours while at it.

Here’s how you prepare Mung Kevum, the Sri Lankan way.

Ingredients

• 150g Green gram (Mung)
• 500g Raw Rice Flour (White)
• 1 Egg
• 2 1/2 Cups thick coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder (optional but a little bit of spice is always good)
• 1 1/4 cups Coconut Treacle
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt to taste
• Coconut oil for frying

Method

• Roast the green gram in a pan, grind it well and run it through a fine sieve.
• Heat the coconut treacle with water, cardamom (optional) and salt to taste.
• When this mixture reaches a thick consistency, take it off the flame and add the green gram flour.
• Mix it well with a wooden spoon (preferably) and mould it into a ball. Leave it aside till you get the batter done.
• For the batter, mix the rice flour, turmeric, salt, egg and coconut milk until you get a thick consistency.
• Dust some green gram flour on the board and roll the green gram (mung) mixture using a rolling pin. (about 1/4 inch thick)
• Cut into diamond shaped pieces, dip in the batter and fry in the coconut oil till golden brown.