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Mung kavum
මුං කැවුම් (mung kavum): diamond-shaped Avurudu sweets of roasted mung bean and treacle dough, dipped in turmeric batter and fried
Mung kavum, the neat golden diamonds that sit beside kavum and kokis on the April New Year table, take a whole afternoon, which is why Sinhala grandmothers often make them with a crowd of helpers and why the shop-bought ones never taste the same. Whole mung beans are toasted until fragrant and ground to a fine powder, mixed with roasted rice flour and hot treacle into a firm, sticky dough, then rolled, cut into diamonds, dipped in a thin coconut milk and turmeric batter and fried. The outside is crisp and yellow, the inside dense, nutty and sweet. Beginners often roll the dough too thick, which leaves the middle pasty while the batter browns; keep it about 1 cm. Rice flour and mung beans are both naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: sift the ground mung through a fine sieve and regrind what is left, because grainy flour makes the dough crumble at the cutting stage.
- Total time
- 110 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 20
Ingredients
For the dough
- 3 ½ oz white rice flour
- 1 cup kithul treacleor palm jaggery syrup
- 1 ¾ oz sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 /2 tsp ground cardamom
For the batter
- 5 ½ oz white rice flour
- ¾ cup thick coconut milk
- 1 /4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 pinch salt
For frying
- 3 ¼ cups coconut oilfor deep-frying
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Dry-roast 9 oz whole green mung beans in a heavy pan over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until golden and fragrant and some beans crack. Cool.
10 minStep 2: Grind the beans to a fine powder in a spice grinder, sift and regrind any coarse bits.
Step 3: Dry-roast 3 ½ oz white rice flour over a low heat for 4–5 minutes until it smells biscuity but has not coloured. Mix it with the mung powder.
5 minStep 4: Simmer 1 cup kithul treacle, 1 ¾ oz sugar and 1 pinch salt in a pan for 6–8 minutes until it reaches the thread stage, when a drop pulled between two fingers forms a short thread.
8 minStep 5: Off the heat, stir in the flour mixture and 1 /2 tsp ground cardamom to make a stiff dough. When cool enough to handle, knead it smooth on a board dusted with rice flour.
3 minStep 6: Roll the dough out to about 1 cm thick and cut into 4 cm diamonds. Leave to firm up for 30 minutes.
Step 7: Whisk 5 ½ oz white rice flour, ¾ cup thick coconut milk, 1 /4 tsp ground turmeric and 1 pinch salt into a smooth batter like single cream.
Step 8: Heat 3 ¼ cups coconut oil to 350°F. Dip each diamond in batter, let the excess drip off and fry 5–6 at a time for 3–4 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain on a rack.
30 minStep 9: Cool completely and store in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 180 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mung kavum take?
- About 110 minutes in total: 70 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 20 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of thick coconut milk?
- Single cream, same amount (not dairy free).
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