Mung Kevum is a traditional Sinhalese sweet — a deep-fried cake made from rice flour, mung bean flour, and kithul treacle, with a distinctive green-tinged color from the mung beans. It is a variation of the classic Kevum (already in the database), made for the Sinhala New Year, distinguished by the addition of mung bean flour which gives it a richer, nuttier flavor and a denser texture.
Mung Kevum is a variation of Kevum (already in the database), the most traditional Sinhalese New Year sweet. The addition of mung bean flour (mung eta kiri) gives the cake a greenish tint, a nuttier flavor, and a denser, chewier texture than the plain rice-flour Kevum. It is made specifically for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year (April), alongside other kavum variants. The use of kithul treacle (palm sugar) is the defining sweetener — it gives a deep, caramel-like sweetness that refined sugar cannot match.
A small, dark golden-green fried cake with a crispy exterior and a dense, chewy, sweet interior. The mung bean flavor is nutty and earthy; the treacle gives a deep caramel sweetness; the texture is denser and more substantial than plain kavum. It is the most satisfying of the kavum family.
The batter combines rice flour and mung bean flour (which gives the green color and nutty flavor) with kithul treacle and coconut milk. The batter is poured into hot oil (like a pancake, not a drizzle like Konda Kavum) and fried until crisp. The finished cakes are briefly soaked in treacle syrup for extra sweetness.
Variations
Some add sesame seeds; some use different ratios of rice to mung flour; some add coconut; the size varies.
On the Palate
Where Mung Kevum sits in the Sri Lankan flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
10 steps · 40 min active + 20 min waiting
- 15 min
Grind 100 g mung beans to a fine flour (or use store-bought mung bean flour).
- 23 min
Mix 200 g rice flour, 100 g mung bean flour, 1 tsp cardamom powder, and 1/2 tsp salt.
- 33 min
Add 150 ml kithul treacle (or palm sugar syrup) and 100 ml coconut milk to make a thick batter.
- 42 min
Heat 300 ml coconut oil to 170°C.
Watch outHold the coconut oil at one-seventy degrees before ladling — too cool and the cakes soak up oil, too hot and they scorch before the middle cooks.
- 55 min
Pour small ladlefuls of batter into the oil (like small pancakes).
- 66 min
Fry 3-4 minutes per side until deep golden and crisp.
Watch outFry until deep golden and crisp on both sides — pale cakes stay doughy in the center.
- 71 min
Remove; drain briefly.
- 82 min
Dip briefly in warm treacle syrup.
Watch outDip only briefly in the warm treacle — a long soak turns the crisp cake soggy.
- 95 min
Drain on paper; cool.
- 101 min
Store in an airtight container.
