Aasmi

Aasmi is a Sri Lankan sweet made by pouring batter in thin streams so that it builds up in net-like layers as it fries. Thick sugar syrup is drizzled in lines over the white lattice, which is folded into a half circle. It is made for celebrations such as New Year, weddings and birthdays.

Making a net from leaf mucilage

Rice flour and coconut milk are combined with a viscous liquid extracted from the leaves of daul kurundu. A method that uses okra mucilage instead of the leaves is also known. Pouring this viscous batter in thin streams creates a lattice of overlapping lines.

In some examples, a coconut shell with several small holes in the bottom is used as the tool for pouring the batter. In the method presented by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Agriculture and others, the batter is poured into the oil from a spoon with small holes. When the batter is poured in circles over hot coconut oil, the thin lines overlap to form a lattice, which is folded in half while it fries.

Fried twice and decorated with syrup

In some methods, the aasmi is fried once and folded, then left for a day or more and fried again. Frying it a second time gives it a white, delicate and crisp finish. Finally, sugar syrup is drizzled over it in lines. Biting into the thin lattice, you can taste the crispness of the fried batter together with the sweetness of the syrup.

Some are decorated with colored sugar syrup, so that bright lines stand out against the white lattice. An essay recalling New Year in a family home tells of ordering aasmi from Panadura or Horana because the necessary leaves could not be obtained in a Colombo kitchen. The availability of ingredients and the places where the makers lived also played a part in where aasmi for a celebration was prepared.

Kokis is also a fried sweet made with rice flour and coconut milk, but it is shaped by coating a metal mold with batter. The lattice of aasmi comes from the process of pouring a viscous batter in thin streams.

Glossary