Unlock the secrets of the Empress of Sri Lankan sweetmeats, the konde kevum

 The Queen on the Table  

Sri Lankan sweetmeats, the konde kevum 

In Sri Lanka are more than half a dozen traditional sweetmeats called ‘kevum’. They don’t resemble each other, save for the sweetness you discover diting into their textures, which tend to vary a lot. Out of this family of Sri Lankan sweetmeats, { including mung-kevum, hendi-kevum, mee-wadakevum and naran-kevum, the undoubted queen rs konde-kevum. She rules over the sweetmeats on the festive table, and she is the Sinhala equivalent of ‘hot cakes’ when people want to talk about a sensational sell-out. When piping hot, they are a pleasure to munch on to. Today you find them a bit soft and pliant, but originally, konde kevum were hard. It was the practice to dip the sweet in treacle, when it would become less firm, and enjoy the drippingdelicious wonder. Today this method has become too costly. For housewives and the beginners, the biggest travailin making kevum is to master the conical bit in the middle of the kevum, the ‘konde’. But if you learn the correct (and really very simple) technique, this would be no issue at all. Here is ashort, very easy to make recipe for konde-kevum. 

INGREDIENTS: 250g of rice flour | 1 cup of treacle | salt 

METHOD:

*Sift the flour, add salt and mix with treacle. Keep aside for 15-30 minutes.

*The kevumis not deep-fried, so don’t use too much oil. The oil should not cover the kevum. 

*As you pour the flour mixture into the pan, beat it into shape with aspoon. 

* Then, make a hole in the soft middle with the koora (thin iron stick) and lift it up gently so the konde rises up, cone-shaped. 

*The koora is hot so the cold  flour in the middle of the kevum clings to the koora. That flour should be coaxed up and shaped conically with a spoon. If there’s not enough flour, more should be added to maintain its shape. 

For those who fret about consuming too much oil, there is an easy answer; if you control the fire properly, neither too high nor too low, the kevum won't absorb much oil. Finally, what can you call the hallmarks of the konde kevum par excellence? 

It’s all in the konde. Ithas to be conical, straight and sturdy and 1 to 1 1/2 inches long. If ever you happen tocome across a kevum, before biting off the konde, be sure to ascertain it is up to standard.