Though the world embraces the New Year on January 1 each year, Sri Lanka is home to a unique kind of New Year celebration in April. Known as the Sinhala and Tamil ‘Aluth Avurudu’ festival, this celebration is not only enjoyed by the Sinhala and Tamil community today, but also people from different ethnic groups, religions and nations.
With celebrations starting on April 13 and ending with the oil anointing ceremony, the Sinhala and Tamil New Year is considered as the biggest national celebration in the country as it features many rituals and customs. Though it is vital to follow these age-old traditions to obtain blessings for the coming year and to preserve them for the future generations, one also needs to keep an eye on the money spent on the festivities so that it does not cause a dent in one’s savings. Here we bring you some pointers to keep in mind while making memories during this festival of unity.
Food plays a prominent role during the Avurudu season. No table is complete without the traditional Kiri Bath (milk rice), Kavum (oil cakes), Kokis (crispy fried snack), Mung Kavum, Athirasa and bananas. More delicacies like Aasmi, Dodol, Weli Thalapa, Naran Kavum, milk toffee and Aluwa are added to the table to make it a rich presentation.
Milk rice is the main dish during the season and is cooked according to an auspicious time. This dish is quite popular with the Sri Lankan community as it is made to celebrate many auspicious occasions. Steamed rice is cooked in thick coconut milk to make Kiri Bath. It is occupied with Lunu Miris, a dish made of onions, chilli flakes and salt which has a slight resemblance to chilli paste. The Tamil community celebrates the New Year, which they dub as ‘Puththandu’, by preparing sweet rice made of new raw red rice, jaggery, cashew nuts, ghee and plums.
Cooking is a labour of love. So engage in the process with joy rather than take it as a hassle.Since ready-made sweetmeats, delivery services and takeaway options are at your fingertips, it is easy to fill your table with a variety of goodies. Yet, the outcome will not be the same. Instead of seeing it as a matter that needs to be dealt and done with, sprinkle some love in your cooking and the output will be magical!
At an age when ingredients are quite pricy, cutting back on some of them or thinking of substitutes comes to mind. It is better to make some smart choices during this process like cutting down on the quantity rather than evading or going for options so that traditional flavours of sweetmeats will not suffer.
Plan ahead
Some people tend to spend a lot of meoney and invest a lot of energy in food and cooking during this season. The best way to solve these issues is through planning the menus and spending money accordingly. Keep track of the number of guests, the verities you plan to serve and the quantities. Pre-preparations will take off the stress of preparing a variety of dishes for the Avurudu lunch.If you organise everything with a budget in mind, there is no doubt that you will be able to host a simple, delicious, healthy, memorable and budget-friendly Avurudu feast for your loved ones with ease.
Paying attention to preserving the nutritional value of the dishes is a must as well. Focus on preparing healthy dishes more than dishing out crowd-pleasers. Then you will not have to feel guilty about indulging yourself much. A majority of Avurudu sweetmeats are generally quite sweet and oily.
Another path you can take is to include fresh salads in your Avurudu lunch menu. Then you would be able to load your plate with these healthy options instead of items like brinjal moju, spicy fried potatoes, chicken curry and papadam. The nutrition provided by fruits and vegetables found locally, is often overlooked. Instead, what is popularly practised is resorting to imports that lack nutrition.
You can serve a platter of fresh fruits like avocado, watermelon, nelli, star fruit and papaya instead of a sweet dessert. This will not only be easy on your purse but will boost the health concept too. Such fruits are found in abundance during this season. You can also serve some fresh king coconut water to keep your guests hydrated during this heat wave.
If you have any health concerns about the number of sweetmeats you consume during this period, follow it up with a bowl of kola kanda (green leaf porridge) daily. Karapincha (curry leaves) and gonika fight against cholesterol. You can brew the kola kanda using these leaves or even adding leaves like gotu kola, hathawariya, mukunuwenna, penela and ranawara to enhance the medicinal value and flavours. You can even make a goraka curry and consume it with your daily rice and curry after the festivities as goraka too will reduce the harmful effects of consuming food with too much sugar and oil.
Get ready to celebrate
Though you may lead a hectic lifestyle, reserve a few days to celebrate this occasion. It is especially important during this period as you can set aside your problems for a few days to reserve time for family and pleasure. Christmas time has a similar set-up in the West for people to have some family-time and to relax and unwind.
Therefore, grab this opportunity with both hands to eliminate stress during this holiday. After all the Sinhala and Tamil New Year comes only once a year. Nothing can beat the delicious aroma of Kevum and Kokis sizzling on the stove and the memories of preparing them together. Children would enjoy this sight and they would relate to the Avurudda more if they get to experience making Kevum, Kokis or other Avurudu food items. So, make an effort to celebrate this Avurudda with some home-cooked food.
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Dishes to drive your taste buds wild!
Come the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and the fragrance of a variety of sweetmeats and dishes fill the air. Though some of these delicacies can be found to mark other auspicious occasions, it is a fact that most of these are an emblem of this annual festival which brings communities together in harmony.
Charith N. Silva is a star in the social media culinary world. The face behind Wild Cookbook, Charith has firmly established himself in Sri Lankan culinary content by reaching the 7 million subscribers mark on his YouTube channel recently. His work is a hit on TikTok too. He has also won a myriad of awards for his gastronomic ventures like the Best Young Chef of the Year at the New Generation Awards 2022, the Best Cooking Channel award at Britishway Popular Awards 2023 and the SLICCA Best Culinary Content Creator 2023 award.
Though he is a global sensation today, Charith started from humble beginnings.
“I never imagined that would become a chef or a culinary content creator! Rather, my childhood dream was to become a cricketer. My brother-in-law is in this field and he got me interested in the art of cooking. I created Wild Cookbook on YouTube first and then moved onto TikTok,” he said.
The aloe vera drink he had made combined with Sri Lankan oranges had garnered the most views. He says he also got the most heartfelt feedback for his series titled “My Happiness” in which he provides a succulent meal like biriyani for children from a rural school every month.
“It is a gesture which comes from the heart and it is no wonder that it has touched many,” he explained.
Oil cakes are his favourite Avurudu sweetmeat. He finds them especially enticing as soon as they have cooled down enough for consumption.
Since everything is costly today, one of the challenges that housewives face is managing expenses while making delicious food. Charith advises all to grow as many ingredients as they can in their gardens so that they do not have to spend bucks at the supermarket.
“We live in a country which is blessed with fertile soil. We can grow anything from a green chilli to a coconut tree in this land. Even in suburbs in Colombo, I have witnessed some people growing plants like tomatoes on rooftops,” he said.
He requests everyone to make the most of the time they have to create something unique, full of goodness and be dedicated to their task to taste success.
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Recipes
Kalu Dodol
Ingredients
White raw rice flour 350g
Thick coconut milk 3 litres
Jaggery 900g
Brown sugar 250g
Ground cardamom 12
Cashew 200g
Salt 1 tsp
Method
Chop the cashew and grate the jaggery. Keep it aside. Sieve rice flour. Reserve around 500ml of coconut milk and then mix rice flour with the rest of the coconut milk. After mixing all rice flour with coconut milk filter it..
Melt jaggery in reserved coconut milk. Add sugar to the melted jaggery mixture. Keep the pan on the stove and stir under low heat until sugar and jaggery dissolves completely.
Mix the rice flour and coconut milk mixture and pour it into the jaggery mixture. Add salt and ground cardamom. Increase fire to medium level and stir continuously until we finish making dodol.
After around ½ an hour the mixture is well heated, and bubbles are coming up. When the dodol becomes thick and doesn’t stick to the sides of the pan, add chopped cashew. You can slowly remove any excess oil by using a spoon.
When the mixture becomes thicker, transfer the contents to a flat surface and press down the mixture to make it flat. Leave it until the dodol cools down completely. Cut it into pieces.
Naran Kavum
Ingredients
1 cup Fresh coconut grated
3/4 cup sugar
Cardamom and a small cinnamon stick
3/4 cup rice flour
A pinch salt
1/3-1/2 cup water
For deep frying Oil
Method
Put a pan on a stove and add the sugar. Heat till the sugar melts and becomes watery. Combine the scraped coconut into this mixture. Let all the syrup absorb. Switch off the fire and sprinkle some flour. Mix and let it cool completely.
Make small equal sized balls from this mixture and keep it aside. Now mix rice flour, salt and just enough water to make it into a thick batter to coat the coconut balls. Heat oil in a pan and when sufficiently hot, dip each coconut ball into this rice flour batter.Deep fry until golden brown.
Ceylon olives sambol
Ingredients
½ coconut, scraped
Some Ceylon olives
Chilli powder
Salt
Method
Crush the Ceylon olives using a mortar and pestle. Remove the seeds. Add sufficient scraped coconut according to your choice. Add a pinch of salt and chili powder to taste. Crush the whole mixture well using the pestle. Serve in a bowl.
Baby jackfruit patties
Ingredients
For the curry
An average sized baby jackfruit (polos)
100g of potatoes
150g of finely chopped curry leaves
2 cloves of garlic
1 green chilli
¼ teaspoon of finely chopped ginger
½ a tablespoon of coarsely ground pepper
¼ tablespoon of chilli pieces
Salt to taste
For the dough
150 g all-purpose flour
50 g butter, cold
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
62 g water
Oil for frying
Method
Cut it into medium sized chunks and boil the baby jackfruit until they are soft. Do the same with the potato. Mash the baby jackfruit and the potatoes. Place a shallow pan on the stove and heat up a small quantity of oil. Once the oil is hot, add cloves, green chilli, ginger, pepper, chilli pieces, rampe and karapincha and temper them. Add the mashed baby jack fruit and potatoes to the tempered mixture in the pan and stir well. Let it cool.
In a bowl, place flour, egg, salt, butter, water and mix well until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut circles using a pastry cutter. Take a spoonful of the tender jack fruit filling and place it in the middle of the wrapper. Apply water along the edge of the wrapper and press down to seal. Use a fork to crimp the edges. Heat the oil in a pan and deep fry till golden brown.
Banana blossom and shrimp buns
Ingredients
For the buns
2 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk heated to 120-130°
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
About 1/4 cup additional flour
1 additional egg, beaten
3-4 tablespoons sesame seeds
For the mixture
A banana blossom, chopped into small pieces
An onion, finely chopped
About 2 or 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
About two green chilies, finely chopped
About 10 medium sized shrimps
A tablespoon of chili flakes
A tablespoon of curry powder
Pinch of salt
Method
Heat oil on a pan and add the chopped garlic, green chili and onions. Fry moderately. Add the cleaned shrimp. Fry and add the chili flakes. Cook for a while and then add the curry powder and mix. Finally add the finely chopped banana blossom to the mixture and cook.
Place flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in milk, followed by oil and egg. Mix till the dough forms a mass.
Place dough on floured surface and knead well. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Cut dough into 8 pieces. Shape each into a ball and place on baking sheet. Flatten each ball. Cover and let rise in a warm spot. Flatten each ball and put the banana blossom and shrimp mixture in the middle and cover the mixture completely by folding in the dough.
Preheat oven to 375° F. Brush each bun with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 12 minutes.
Coconut ice cream
Ingredients
80g Whole milk
200g Coconut milk
90g Granulated sugar
20g Dextrose
120g Heavy cream
60g Shredded coconut
Method
Place the milk and coconut milk in a saucepan on medium heat. When the mixture reaches 40°C, add the sugar, and dextrose mixed together. Cook until the mixture reaches 85°C, then remove from the heat and add the cold cream. Quickly chill the mixture over an ice bath and then refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
Add the shredded coconut in the mixture and churn for around 20 minutes in an ice-cream machine (or as indicated by the manufacturer). Store in the freezer before serving.
Jackfruit koththu
Ingredients
500 g of jackfruit peeled and
chopped
Curry leaves
Chopped garlic
Chopped ginger
Two cups of water
A few pieces of cinnamon bark
Chopped big onions
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped green chillies
Two eggs
50ml of oil
A teaspoon of pepper powder
Two teaspoons of salt powder
A tablespoon of chilli pieces
Two chopped carrots
Chopped leeks
Method
Put the jackfruit in a medium deep bowl, add a teaspoon of salt and two cups of water and bring to a boil. Place a deep frying pan on the stove and add oil to it. When the oil heats up, add the crushed ginger, garlic, big onion and curry leaves.
Now add the remaining one teaspoon of salt, pepper, and chilli pieces. When they are slightly fried, add some cinnamon and green raw chillies and mix well. Then add the chopped leeks and carrots. Now add the two eggs and mix well. Then add the boiled jackfruit. Once all the ingredients are mixed, add the chopped tomatoes. Mix all. Remove from the stove.
Bilin pickle
Ingredients
Dried bilin 200g
Vinegar
Red onions 500g
Big onions 1kg
Garlic 10/12 cloves
Green chilli
Maldives fish 100g
Dried sprats 250g
Black curry powder
Chilli flakes 50g
2 lemons
Rampe
Curry leaves Salt
Custard 1 teaspoon
Sugar 2 tablespoons
Turmeric powder 1 teaspoon
Method
Cut red onions, B onions, garlic, green chilli (chop it) into small pieces. Chop Maldive fish too. Fry the chopped onions separately until they change to golden colour. Also, green chilli, curry leaves, rampe, Maldive fish, died sprats are fried separately. Break down fried sprats into small parts if they are big.
Then place a clay pot on the cooker and using 2 tablespoons of the same oil, heat up the prepared dried bilin. Make sure to put it on low flame.
Finally, we can mix the rest of the ingredients. For this, chilli flakes, lemon juice, salt (as per your taste), custard, vinegar (small amount), sugar are added to the clay pot containing bilin. Fried onions, Maldive fish and dried sprats should be added. Ingredients should be mixed by hand thoroughly.
Use a dry clay pot or dry glass bottles to store the mixture. Make sure to use a dry spoon when taking out of the bottles/ pot.
