Moor Culinary habits - Sailan Muslim

Moor Culinary habits
The Moors like all good Muslims are governed by Islamic dietary laws which
clearly lay down what is permissible (halāl) and what is prohibited (harām). The
Qur’ān (Sūrah Al-Mā’idah.V.3-5) forbids the believers from consuming dead
animals (mayta), blood (dam), the flesh of swine (lahmul khinzīri) and that on
which Allah’s name has not been mentioned while slaughtering (mā uhilla li
ghairillāhi bihi) 1 and that which has been killed by strangling, a violent blow or a
headlong fall. Animals caught by hounds (jawārihi mukallibīna) and the food of
the people of the scripture (ūtul kitāba) 2 are however declared to be lawful. The
Prophet is also said to have prohibited the eating of all fanged beasts of prey and
all birds having talons (Muslim).
Permitted however are marine creatures which unlike land creatures do not
have to be ritually slaughtered to make their flesh lawful. The Prophet is reported
to have said that there is no animal in sea which God has not but made pure for the
children of Adam (Dāraqutni). He is also reported to have said to eat what the sea
throws up (Abu Dāwūd) and that dead fish are lawful (Ibn Mājah). Thus there is no
need for slaying fish by dhabh as in the case of quadrupeds. Needless to say,
alcohol is strictly prohibited in Islam. The Qur’ān in Sūrah Al-Mā’idah (V.90)
calls intoxicants an abomination of the devil’s handiwork (amalish-shaytāni) and
enjoins the believers to avoid it. The Prophet is also known to have declared
intoxicants unlawful (Abu Dāwūd).
The Arabs of the Prophet’s time consumed a variety of meats. The Prophet
himself is said to have loved sheepmeat, eaten chicken meat, accepted rabbit meat,
allowed eating horsemeat and camel meat and although he avoided lizard’s meat,
he did not prohibit it. He however forbade the eating of donkey’s meat (Bukhāri).
Other items of food consumed by the Prophet are said to have included cucumber
and ripe dates (Tirmidhi), onions and possibly cheese (Abu Dāwūd).He is also said
to have been sent milk, venison and mushrooms (Adab Al-Mufrad) suggesting that
these too were consumed by him or his household.
Besides meat and plant products, the Arabs of the Prophet’s time also had a
few special dishes and one such dish finding mention in the Prophetic tradition is a
bread and meat dish known as tharīd (Bukhāri). Another is the hais, a sweet dish
made of butter, cheese and dates (ibid). Soup was known for the Prophet is said to
have prescribed barley soup for the members of his household who fell sick (Ibn
1
The prescribed method of slaughtering animals in order to render their meat halāl or permissible is the dhabh
by reciting Bismillāh (In the name of God) and cutting the carotid and jugular blood vein. Besides dhabh,
animals could be hunted by bow and arrow (and in today’s context a gun) after reciting Bismillāh or by means
of hunting animals such as hounds and hawks by reciting Bismillāh and letting them loose though game taken
alive must of necessity be slain by dhabh.
2
i.e.Jews and Christians

Mājah) and among the sweet foods he is said to have loved sweetmeats (halwa)
and honey (asal) (Bukhāri).
Moorish fare
The earliest accounts we have of Moor culinary fare date only from the 19 th
century and we can only conjecture what their fare would have been prior to this
period. Rice, the staple of the country, as well as flesh such as that of fowl would
have probably constituted an important part of their diet. Dates and a few
sweetmeats too may have been known.
Simon Casie Chitty 3 provides us an insight into early 19 th century Moorish fare
when he mentions rice puddings, gruel and bruised plantains and milk figuring in
ceremonies connected with a boy’s circumcision while Ahmadu Bawa 4 refers to
ghee-rice with fried fowl, mutton curry, half a dozen vegetable curries and one or
two pickles being served at the great feast at the bridegroom’s house known as
māppillai vīddu pakatchoru.
Muslim Cookery by Seniya Noordeen (1958) lists over fifty Moorish dishes,
some of which are not made so frequently as they used to be and some of which
appear to have died out. The work has fortunately preserved for us an account of
typically Moorish dishes and beverages as they used to be prepared in the olden
days, especially among the upper and middle classes. This includes rice dishes
such as chicken buriyani and dhal pilau, meat preparations such as beef embul and
chicken mosom, curry varities such as kaliya and thawttel, pickles such as salted
billing and mango, sweet dishes such as sanja, firiny and wattilappam, sweet drinks
such as faalootha, almond sherbet and gehwa and other food items such as Ellisha,
Al Basra, Russian kalawan, semolina fritters and adukku rotti. Indeed, it is thought
here worthwhile to give a brief description of the lesser known items mentioned by
Noordeen some of which are no longer prepared.
The rice meals given by her include kettu choru or picnic rice customarily
served in Muslim homes on Odukkathu Puzan day (Ash Wednesday). She gives
rice, chicken mosom, beef embul, kaliya, coconut mellun, potato curry, salted fish
curry, fish roast, prawn curry, fried eggs, fried bombili, fried fish, fried beef, fried
sweet potato and fried jak seeds as constituting the menu. Gotu buth, she gives as a
menu consisting of rice, beef curry, thawttel, jak mellun and chutney, all served in
a basket-like receptacle known among the Sinhalese as gotu and woven out of
coconut leaves. The gotu, she says, is rectangular in shape and just large enough to
hold rice and curry for one person. Dhal pilau she gives as a meal made with rice,
3
The Ceylon Gazetteer (1834)
4
The Marriage Customs of the Moors of Ceylon JRAS.CB (1888)

dhal, Bombay onions, red onions and various spices, cooked in ghee and coconut
milk.
Noordeen also gives a variety of curries prepared by the Muslims of her day.
This includes thawttel, a curry made with pumpkin, breadfruit, plantains, sweet
potato, red onions and maldive fish. Other curries given by her include beef embul
(beef cooked in tamarind and other spices to make a thick curry) and chicken
mosom (chicken heavily spiced with Bombay onions, green chillies, tomato and
tamarind, fried and cooked to make a thick curry). Among the other items given by
her, we may mention Al-Basra (a meal comprising of several layers of pancakes
between which are placed a chicken mixture consisting of shredded chicken,
onions and spices) and Ellisha (meal made of wheat paste, shredded mutton and
red onions cooked in ghee).
We will now deal with the contemporary fare of the Moors, including the
dishes peculiar to them. The staple fare of the Moors like that of the Sinhalese and
Tamils is rice 5 , which is consumed with a number of curries or side dishes. Meat,
and especially beef and chicken figures prominently in the Moorish diet. The
traditional Moorish dishes which we give below largely figure on special and
festive occasions. A favourite rice dish which figures prominently in Moorish
feasts is the buriyāni, a rich and delectable dish that has its origins in Moghul
India. The term itself is of Indian origin and seems to have derived from the
Hindustani biryāni 6 .
Buriyāni is usually made with fragrant bāsmati or sūduru sambā rice cooked in
ghee with meat (usually beef or chicken) and potatoes, spiced with various
condiments, scented with rose water and coloured yellow with colouring. It may
also be embellished with green peas, cashew nuts and raisins. Accompaniments or
side dishes include roasted chicken or chicken curry, an assorted curry made of
liver, carrot, peas and cashew nuts, a date and onion pickle known as accār and a
mint sambol made of mint leaves, green chillies, scraped coconut, garlic and
ginger, all ground together to form a thick paste known as puduna sambal. Also
commonly consumed with the buriyāni are slices of pineapple which gives zest
and helps in the digestion of this heavy meal. The buriyāni served at important
5
The eating of rice as a popular dish among the Moors has no doubt been influenced by the South Asian
tradition and is a departure from the custom of the Arabs amongst whom the usual meal even in mediaeval
times consisted largely of bread and meat (Mez.1922). Indeed, as evident in the Alf Layla Wa Layla or the
Arabian Nights which reflects mediaeval Arabian society, it would appear that rice was more often than not
regarded as a sort of luxury. The Arabic term for rice aruzz itself appears to be of Indian origin (Cf.T.arici
‘rice deprived of husk’ though this term itself seems to have evolved from the Proto-Aryan * vrizhi.
Cf.Skt.vrihi, Pers.birinc and Nuristani wric).
6
The dish is evidently an old one, for Abul Fazl in his 16 th century treatise on Moghul polity, Āin-I-Akbari
gives biryān as a meat dish made from sheep with ghi and spices such as saffron, pepper and cuminseed. He
also mentions a rice dish known as Duzdbiryān made of rice, meat and ghi. The term biryān from which
biryāni evidently derives is a Persian loan in Hindustani literally meaning ‘fried, roasted, broiled, parched,
grilled’.

functions such as weddings are generally partaken from a sahan or savan, a large
metal platter, by a group of six seated around it 7 .
The dish appears to be a relatively recent introduction from the subcontinent.
Chitty (1834) nor Bawa (1888) mention it. Bawa also refers to ghee-rice with fried
fowl etc figuring in a marital feast instead of buriyāni suggesting that it was
probably not known among the Moors of his time. Nevertheless Elsie Cook 8
notices the dish figuring among the Moors a few decades later. She says “ Their
mode of cooking rice, with sultanas and fat, making a dish called burriana, has
become characteristic in Ceylon”. In an earlier notice, an advertisement placed by
Kamal Pasha Hotel of Maradana in 1923 9 we read of ‘buriyani rice’ and ‘fried
fowls’ being offered by the hotel, suggesting that the dish would have been
introduced from India for commercial purposes and that it was only later that it
gained currency as a domestic dish.
We were however informed by elderly folk that in the olden days, until about
the 1930s or thereabouts, it was not buriyāni that was the common festive meal,
but rather what was known as kalivirundu śōru, a rice dish prepared with ghee and
various condiments such as cinnamon and embellished with pieces of pineapple,
cashewnuts and raisins. Side dishes included potato, mutton curry, kaliya, fried
beef or chicken and accār or a chutney known as bulaccan prepared with tamarind,
chillie, sugar, vinegar and onions tempered in ghee. The term kalivirundu śōru
used to denote this rice dish appears to derive from the Tamil kali ‘joy, mirth,
delight’ and virundu ‘feast, banquet’ which would suggest that the dish was only
prepared on very special occasions. The dish is still prepared on certain occasions
like weddings, particularly in the rural areas.
Another common rice dish neisōru or ‘ghee rice’ is made with rice, ghee, red
onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cardamoms, screwpine leaves (Pandanus
latifolia), curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) and coconut milk, all of which are
cooked together to form a delectable rice meal. Its traditional accompaniment is
māśi sambal, a blackish sambol prepared by frying separately in coconut oil red
onions, maldive fish, green chillies, pandanus and curry leaves and adding to it
powdered chilli, lime juice and salt before mixing it well 10 . Another notable rice
dish is manjal sōru or ‘yellow rice’ prepared by boiling rice in coconut milk and
7
The practice seems to be Arabian in origin as is suggested by the terms savan and sahan which seem to have
originated from the Arabic sahn ‘dish’. The custom of partaking of meals in this manner is very likely based
on the practice of the Prophet and his companions who are known to have partaken of food from a common
dish known as Al-gharra which sufficed for several persons (Abu Dāwūd)
8
A Geography of Ceylon (1931)
9
The Crescent. The monthly organ of Zahira College. Oct.1923
10
Nowadays however it is fairly common to prepare a sambol (also known as māśi sambal) made of onions,
Maldive fish and red chilli which are all light fried together in coconut oil to form a golden- brownish sambol.
The sambol takes its name from the māśi or maldive fish that figures prominently in it.

turmeric. It is commonly consumed with some meat and potato curry. Yet another
well known rice meal is the kiḍu or kiḍuvu śōru, a rice menu traditionally
comprising of cooked samba rice, a curry known as tōtal, beef curry, mango curry
and shredded and cooked jakfruit prepared similarly to the kos mällum of the
Sinhalese. Today however the rice, beef and mango curry which figures in any
ordinary kiḍu is commonly supplemented with potato curry, dhal curry and kaliya
while the tōtal and jakfruit may be omitted.. The distinguishing feature of this meal
is that it is placed in woven coconut leaf receptacles from which it takes the name
of kiḍuvu (fr.T.kiḍugu). It is no doubt identical with the ‘Gotu-buth’ (A Sinhala
term meaning ‘receptacle-rice) mentioned by Noordeen (1958). It is commonly
consumed during the Ramaḍān period after the breaking of the fast and often
distributed at kandūris held at the shrines of Muslim saints.
Another rice meal, kettu sōru especially prepared by Galle folk consists of rice,
dhal, kaliya, potato curry, karavāḍa poricci (fried dry-salted fish), pilākoṭṭa poricci
(fried jak seeds), batala poricci (fried sweet potato), eracci poricci (fried beef),
eracci mānga (mango chutney), mīn tīcci (fish cooked to a thick gravy), , amuku
muṭṭa (boiled and fried egg), pilāka śundal (shredded and cooked jakfruit) and
tēnga śundal (a yellowish grated coconut and turmeric sambol). This rice meal is
packed in a packing made of plantain leaf, hence the name of kettu or ‘packeted’
given to it.
Pāl sōru (also known as pāl cōru or pāṭcōru) which literally means ‘milk rice’
is similar to the kiribat of the Sinhalese and pukkai of the Tamils and is prepared
by cooking rice in coconut milk, which when left to cool forms into a cake of firm
consistency which is then cut into square- or diamond-shaped pieces. It is usually
consumed at feasts given when a girl attains age or the day before the wedding.
There is also paruppu cōru known in the south which is prepared by boiling rice
and dhal in coconut milk.
Eastern Moor folk such as those of Batticaloa also consume what is known as
tanni sōru or tanni cōru where the rice cooked in the pot is mixed with water and
left overnight before being mixed with red onions and green chillies and consumed
the following morning. Karacci sōru is similarly prepared save that instead of
onions and chillies, curd or coconut milk and some fruit such as banana or
woodapple are added to it. Such karacci sōru is often consumed for breakfast and
makes an invigorating meal. The Moors of Jaffna also had what was known as
tēngā cōru or tēngā sōru, a rice meal prepared with a copious quantity of coconut
milk. It was consumed at festive occasions such as weddings, maulūds, kattams
and other functions along with āṭṭarecci or mutton curry, a composite curry known
as kāikari made by cooking together brinjals and ash plantains and a soup known
as milahu-tanni prepared with garlic, turmeric, pepper etc. This meal is said to be
still prepared by Jaffna Moors domiciled in other areas, though not as frequently.

Among the popular side dishes served with the main rice meals we may
mention the kuruma curries, chicken and beef kuruma which seem to have been
influenced by the Hindustani qorma, a spiced fried curry. The curry which is
characterized by an exotic aroma and gravy of a beige-brown hue is prepared by
marinating the meat with a combination of spices such as chillie, pepper, turmeric,
ginger, ground garlic, minced onions, coriander powder, cumin seed and tomatoes,
all of which are put into tempered onions and cooked until it forms a thick gravy.
Among the meat dishes, eracci ānam or beef curry cooked to a reddish brown
with chillie and a variety of other condiments figures prominently. So does chicken
curry (kōli ānam). Also popular, but less commonly consumed is mutton curry
(āttarecci) prepared by cooking mutton in coconut milk, curd and various spices
such as garlic, ginger and chilli. It is said that the Moors of Jaffna hardly if ever
consumed beef, very likely a result of the Hindu influence of the neighbouring
Tamils, and that the meat of their choice was mutton. One also finds the flesh of
the land monitor lizard (uḍumbu eracci) being consumed as a curry in certain parts
of the country as in the Matara District. Some Batticaloa people are also known to
be fond of this flesh, particularly of the type known as vella uḍumbu found in the
paddy fields of that region.
One also finds a variety of seafood being indulged in by the Moors, especially
those resident in the coastal districts, particularly fish (mīn) and prawns (rāl).
Crabs (nandu) and bivalve molluscs (maṭṭi) are also consumed, but rarely 11 .
Although Islam clearly permits seafood, some doubt has been expressed with
regard to the permissibility of crustaceans like crab and sea reptiles like turtle 12 .
Nevertheless, seafood is freely indulged in by the Moors and even dugongs seem
to have been once consumed with relish 13 .
11
P.E.P.Deraniyagala (Cured Marine Products of Ceylon. CJS.Sep.1933) mentions Moors being among the
chief consumers of maṭṭi, mussels of the Meretrix, Tapes, Venus and Donax gathered off the fringing coral
reef of the west coast fishing villages. Even today one finds some Moors of the southern and western coastal
and estuarine areas consuming molluscs known as maṭṭi with relish. We were also told that the Moors of
Jaffna widely consumed such molluscs which were boiled in their shells before being removed and cooked
into a devilled curry with a good quantity of chilli and other spices.
12
For instance, the Fathud-Dayyan though permitting eel, shrimp prawn, ray fish and cuttle fish, declares crab
and tortoise to be harām. The prohibition of crab is perhaps based on an analogical deduction derived from
the prohibition of birds having talons, the talons of birds of prey being likened to the claws of crabs. The
prohibition of tortoise (including turtle etc) is somewhat more difficult to explain. There exists a common
local belief that crab is makruh or disapproved and that consuming it continuously for a period of 40 days is
forbidden though there does not appear to be any religious basis for this belief.
13
R.H.Bassett (Romantic Ceylon 1929) refers to dugongs caught off the seas of Jaffna and worth up to sixty
rupees in the fish market, where the Moormen rush for it, while Christine Jonklaas (The Fishers of Portugal
Bay.Loris.June 1937) refers to dugongs prized for their flesh by the Moors of Puttalam and thereabouts. This
herbivorous sea mammal known by the Moors as āvūliyā in contrast to the proper Tamil term kaḍal-panḍri or
‘sea-pig- has since undergone a dramatic decline in population, mainly it is said as a result of ‘overexploitation’.
The dugong is said to have been common along the north-western coastal waters of Sri Lanka
from the Puttalam lagoon in the south to the islands west of Jaffna in the north until the early part of the 20 th
century. Indeed, dugongs were so plentiful in Sri Lanka that even as recently as the 1950s, some 100 to 150

Among the popular vegetable dishes may be included kaliya 14 prepared by
cooking in coconut milk a mixture of fried brinjals and ash plantain cubes, liver,
garlic, chillies and turmeric, though the liver may sometimes be omitted. There is
also pacca kaliya where the ingredients are simply cooked in coconut milk. Potato
curry (kelangu ānam) cooked in coconut milk and turmeric till a light yellow is
also quite popular. Generally, however, the curry preparations of the Moors are
similar to those of the Sinhalese. For instance, vegetable curries like tender jak
(polosikā), breadfruit (irapilāka), brinjals (kattirikkā) and pulses like dhal
(paruppu). Other notable curries include irapilāka poriyal prepared by frying
sliced breadfruit until a golden brown and cooking it in coconut milk and various
condiments to form a thick curry. There is also pāl pilāka curry made with jakfruit
bulbs cooked in coconut milk, onions, garlic and spices such as curry leaves,
chillies and turmeric.
Besides these, various dishes made of shredded vegetables or herbs mixed with
grated coconut, onions, chillies etc are commonly consumed and are generally
known as śundal, though the proper Tamil term from which it derives cundal
means ‘stewed food, commonly vegetable’ (Winslow 1862). Such śundals are
often consumed with rice. Well known herbs include vallāri (Centella asiatica)
and ponnaṅgani (Alternanthera sessilis).
Other relishes include a reddish pickle known as accār made of red onions,
dates, capsicum, chillie, mustard seed, salted lime 15 , salted mango 16 , sugar and
vinegar and consumed along with main rice dishes like buriyāni 17 . There is also
pacaḍi or māṅga pacaḍi 18 which is basically a sweet and sour mango dish made
by boiling in water pieces of raw mango after which it together with coconut milk
and chillie powder is added to a pan containing stir-fried red onions, green chillies,
garlic, mustard, curry leaves and other condiments. The curry is cooked till it
animals were annually taken in the Mannar District. Today however it is doubtful if even 100 animals survive in
the north-western coastal waters of the island, though a few animals do get caught occasionally, such accidental
catches being incidental to the main fishing efforts of individual fishermen (See The dugong in Sri Lanka.
Charles Santiapillai. Sri Lanka Nature.Dec.1999).
14
A term which possibly has its origins in the Hindustani qaliya ‘boiled or fried meat with dressing’
(Cf.Ar.qaliyya ‘fried’, ‘roasted’, Pers.qalya ‘fried’, ‘flesh-meat dressed with anything’).
15
Uppudēsika, prepared by cutting limes into quarters, filling the spaces with salt and drying it or storing it for
a few months
16
Uppumānga, prepared by boiling raw mango in salt water and drying it in the sun with salt
17
The accār seems to have had its origins in the Hindustani acār or Persian āchār which besides the usual
meaning of ‘pickle’ is said to particularly refer to ‘onions preserved in vinegar’ (See A Comprehensive
Persian-English Dictionary.F.Steingass).
18
Winslow (1862) gives paccaṭi as ‘a kind of seasoning for food, like pickles’. It also gives māṅkāippaccaṭi as
‘mango pickle’. It is therefore very likely that the dish is of Tamil origin.

thickens before sugar is added to it and it is cooked further. This thick yellowish
curry is usually consumed with rice.
Another important relish which figures prominently in Moorish meals,
especially in areas like Galle is eracci māṅga or mango chutney made by cooking
together mango, mustard seed, chillie and jaggery or sugar. There is also māsi
poricci or fried maldive fish made by frying pounded maldive fish with sliced
Bombay onions, green chillies, pandanus and curry leaves and eriyal, a kind of
chutney also well known in southern areas like Galle prepared by frying long beans
in oil and adding to it a mixture of plantain-flower, hog plum, pineapple, salted
mango, salted lime, salted biling 19 , dates, maldive fish, jaggery and sugar with a
variety of spices such as chillie, pepper and turmeric and cooking the whole in
coconut oil to form a dark brown colour.
Indeed, one would find many such regional specialities. Food items peculiar to
Galle and especially the Galle Fort area include aviyal, a rich curry made by
cooking together salted fish bone, white rice, scraped coconut, breadfruit,
pumpkin, spinach, the sweet potato known as batala 20 and another kind of yam
known as gahala 21 with coconut milk, turmeric and chillie. This dish is usually
consumed with rice, fish and herbs 22 .
There is also tōtal, a variety of aviyal where maldive fish is used instead of
salted fish bone while spinach is also omitted. This dish is usually consumed with
beef and shredded and cooked jak (pilāka śundal). It is little doubt identical with
Noordeen’s thawttel which she describes as a curry made with pumpkin,
breadfruit, plantains, sweet potato, red onions and maldive fish. Other popular side
dishes here include karavāḍa poricci (fried dry-salted fish), banḍakkā puli (boiled
ladies fingers 23 with scraped coconut) and puli (a sort of sambol prepared with red
onions, green chillies, lime and salt).
In Puttalam, there exists a well-known seafood dish made of the fatty variety of
ray (kolapu tirikka) or shark (venna surā). It involves extracting the fatty lumps
found in the insides of these fish and heating it on a slow flame so that it melts to
form an oil. Onions and curry leaves are heated together in this oil before the more
fleshy parts of the fish, spiced with chilli and turmeric, are added and the whole
cooked to form an oily, reddish curry. The dish is usually consumed for lunch
19
Averrhoea bilimbi
20
Edulis batatas
21
Calocasia antiquorum
22
Aviyal is evidently a Tamil dish, although it is possible that it has undergone some variation locally among
the Moors. Winslow (1862) gives aviyal as ‘boiled food’ or ‘a kind of curry without acid’
23
Hibiscus esculentus

along with rice and a soup known as puliyānam. This soup is prepared by boiling
in water onions, green chillies, curry leaves, gamboge and cumin before adding to
it the tail end and bony parts of the fish, whether shark or ray fish, after which
thick coconut milk is added to form a rather nourishing relish to the main meal.
Typical eastern fare includes kānja-eracci which is prepared by boiling meat,
usually beef, in salt and turmeric and roasting it. This is said to have been formerly
prepared by smoking the meat over a fireplace (aduppu) or wooden frame (paran).
Such meat could be cooked as a curry, fried or made into a sambol by pounding it
into little pieces. Also peculiar to the east is what is known as suṭṭa eracci where
raw meat is placed on sticks and heated over an open fire much like the kabābs of
the Arabs. It is usually consumed on occasions like the Hajj festival when meat is
plentiful. Tēn eracci or ‘honey meat’ was also once widely known in the eastern
districts such as Batticaloa at a time when there was plenty of game to be had. The
game which comprised the flesh of wild animals such as deer (mān), marai
(sambhur) and jungle hare (kāṭṭu musal) would be smoked over a fire before being
dipped in bees’ honey and stored to be consumed at a later date. It was also made
into a sambol-like dish by chopping it into fine pieces and mixing it with onions
and chillies by which means it became a delicious relish to be consumed along
with rice broth (arisi kanji).
Eastern folk also commonly consume fried items simply known as poriyal such
as little fried fish mixed with red onions and green chillies. They also commonly
add seafood such as the little fish known as sūḍal, sprats, prawns or maldive fish to
their vegetable curries. This is believed to enhance the taste of the curry. The eggs
of the freshwater fish known as keluti is also much relished, being made into a
tantalizing devilled dish with chilli and other spices.
Other Eastern Moor specialities include uraippu kanavā curry and uraippu rāl
curry, seafood dishes made of cuttle fish and prawn respectively. The cuttle fish or
prawn as the case may be is fried in oil before being cooked in coconut milk and
lightly fried onions, tomato and chillies. Furthermore beef curry is often cooked
with manioc (maravalli kilaṅgu) which is said to make a most delicious dish. Some
folk residing in the coastal areas of the Batticaloa District are also known to
consume a strong intoxicating dish known as baṅgu prepared by cooking beef liver
(māṭṭu īral) with cannabis leaves (kanjā ila) and other condiments.
Besides the main dishes prepared with rice and the curries and other side dishes
that go with it, we also find a number of other food items commonly consumed by
the Moors, especially on festive occasions. These include aḍukku roṭṭi 24 , a
delectable baked dish made of several layers of pancakes interspersed with a
mixture of minced beef, Bombay onions, garlic, green chillies and herbs such as
24
Aḍukku roṭṭi takes its name from its being piled one over another (T.aḍukku ‘pile’ or ‘to pile up one on top
of another’)

celery, pandanus and curry leaves all cooked in oil, kunāfa 25 , a savoury cake
comprising of several layers of shredded pancakes interspersed with minced beef
filling and samosa, a triangular pastry filled with minced beef which seems to have
originated in India where it is known by the same name among the Hindustanispeaking
population of the north 26 .
Other less ceremonial, more commonly consumed food items include appam or
hoppers 27 , a crisp circular cake with a soft puffed spongy centre made of rice flour
and coconut milk, roṭṭi 28 , a hard circular cake made of wheat flour and grated
coconut and puṭṭu 29 , a cylindrical cake prepared by steaming in a special cylinderlike
mould a mixture of rice flour and grated coconut. In the Eastern areas one
would find a variety of this rice cake known as mani piṭṭu which is quite popular.
This is prepared by steaming in a special bamboo or palm leaf container known as
nīṭṭupeṭṭi a mixture of roasted rice flour, grated coconut and water, all formed into
little pearl-shaped globules, hence the name of mani or ‘jewel’ given to it. The
Eastern Moors also commonly prepare what is known as pāl appam or ‘milk
hoppers’ made by adding to the centre of the hopper thick coconut milk (talai pāl)
while it is being prepared, thus giving the puffed centre a soft texture and a
delicious creamy taste.
Besides these, one would find iḍi-appam or string-hoppers 30 , stringy circular
cakes formed by forcing fine strands of dough made of rice or wheat flour through
a perforated mould, placing them on special circular mats and steaming them, and
iḍiappam-buriyāni or string-hopper buriyāni which is made like rice buriyāni, save
that stringhoppers are used instead of rice. Though one might be tempted to think
of this as a recent introduction, this is not so, for Noordeen (1958) mentions it.
25
The dish is evidently of Arab origin, though surprisingly it seems to have originally been a sweet rather than
savoury dish. In the story of Ma’aruf the Cobbler occurring in the Alf Layla Wa Layla we find kunāfah
figuring as a sweet dish made of vermicelli cake, fried with clarified butter and sweetened with treacle or
bees’ honey, while Lane says in his Modern Egyptians (1836) “A favourite sweet dish is koona’feh, which
is made of wheat-flour, and resembles vermicelli, but is finer; it is boiled, and sweetened with sugar or
honey”.
26
This item may however have an Arab or Persian origin (Cf.Ar.sanbūsak ‘triangular meat pie’, Pers.sambūsa
‘kind of triangular pastry’)
27
This item is of South Indian origin, where appam means ‘round cake of rice flour and sugar fried in ghee’
though it is possible that the term and the dish itself is of ancient North Indian origin, for it is not unlikely for
the Tamil term appam to have derived from the Skt.apūpa ‘cake of flour, meal , & c’ which occurs in early
Vedic literature such as the Rg Veda (See A Sanskrit-English Dictionary.Monier- Monier Williams.1899)
28
This item probably has its origins in the Hindustani roṭi ‘a bread-cake’
29
This meal is evidently of Tamil origin and derives from the T.piṭṭu, a term which appears to have its origins
in Skt.piṣṭa ‘flour’. The meal is evidently an old one and is even known to the author of the Cilappatikāram
who makes mention of sellers of piṭṭu.
30
Very likely from the Tamil .iḍiyappam, an identical meal. The term probably has its origins in the T.iḍ i
‘ground grain’, ‘rice flour’ and appam ‘cake’

Stringhopper buriyani is also said to have been served on the occasion of a Macan
Markar wedding on 9 th September 1944 at the height of World War II due to nonavailability
of basmathi rice at the time 31 and it is possible that it in fact originated
in the war years due to that very reason. Also prepared in the olden days though
hardly if ever today was a rich meal known as halīśā made of wheat paste, meat
and onions and cooked in ghee. It is little doubt identical with Noordeen’s Ellisha
which she describes as being made of wheat paste, shredded mutton and red onions
and cooked in ghee).
There is also frāns āppa or ‘French hoppers’ made in areas such as Galle which
is prepared by cooking together semolina, coconut milk, fried onions and shredded
beef, after which it is poured on a tray, topped with beaten eggs and baked. It is
usually consumed with some curry such as chicken curry. Among the notable
eastern Moorish dishes may be mentioned the uraippu aḍai, a sort of savoury cake
made of roasted rice flour, fried prawns, eggs, onions and chillies, all baked in a
clay pot. The Moors of Jaffna also had what was known as pāl āḍai, a pancake
made of a batter of rice flour, coconut milk and egg and commonly consumed with
mutton curry.
Indeed, many of these dishes have their accompaniments. Puṭṭu may be
consumed with bābat (honey comb tripe) and kodal (bovine bowels) and appam
and iḍi-appam with beef curry. Roṭṭi is also usually consumed with some curry
such as beef curry or bananas. Similarly, iḍiappam buriyāni may be consumed
with kīmā, a mixture of minced beef, Bombay onions, garlic, green chillies and
herbs such as celery, pandanus and curry leaves, all of which are cooked in oil to
form a delicious curry.
Gruels and soups
Moor folk also consume a considerable variety of gruels and soups. Among
them we may mention kanji, a rejuvenating gruel made with rice, beef, fenugreek,
ginger and garlic and cooked in coconut milk. This gruel is commonly prepared
during the time of the Ramaḍān fast, not only in homes, but also in mosques where
it is liberally dished out to all and sundry who happen to be there at the time of
breaking the fast. That this was also the practice in the olden days is borne out by
Shamsiden (1886) who alludes to the Moors, both rice and poor, drinking each a
cupful of kanji at the time of breaking the fast 32 .
31
See Short Biographical Sketches of Macan Markar and Related Families. A.H.Macan Markar (1977)
32
An ancient Tamil work assigned to the early centuries of the Christian era, the Pattinap-palai refers to kanci
filtered out of the rice cooked in feeding houses flowing in a stream and spreading over the land, which
would imply that it originally meant the water left over after the cooking of the rice. The MTL (1926) gives
kanci as ‘rice water’, ‘water in which rice has been boiled and which is drained off after the rice has been
cooked’ as well as ‘liquid food’ and ‘gruel prepared from cereals’. It is quite possible that this kanji went
through an intermediate stage where the water of boiled rice was left overnight and consumed the following

Another type of gruel, gōdamba kanji is made by boiling wheat and chicken in
coconut milk 33 . There is also rulaṅ kanji, a thick gruel made of semolina, coconut
milk, onions and some meat such as chicken, and sau kanji, a sweet brownish gruel
made of sago, coconut milk, kitul jaggery and cinnamon. It is usually consumed
with bananas 34 .
The Moors of Jaffna are known to have consumed a gruel known as pulikkanji
prepared by boiling together red rice, coconut milk, tamarind juice, prawns and
leaves such as muruṅgā (Moringa Oleifera) or kovvā (Cephalandra Indica) to
which is sometimes added onions and green chillies. The Moors of the Panadura
area are also said to have formerly consumed a gruel known as poduval made of
sago, cow’s milk, cashewnuts and raisins. Kiccaḍi, a mess of rice, green gram and
jaggery cooked in coconut milk and spiced with cardamoms is also prepared in
Moorish homes and was known even in the olden days 35 .
Among the traditional Moor soups may be mentioned puliyānam (lit.sour
gravy) made with a variety of ingredients including onions, garlic, ginger, pepper,
tamarind and cumin. In the Puttalam area the preparation of puliyānam differs from
the rest of the island and is made by boiling in water onions, green chillies, curry
leaves, gamboges and cumin before adding to it the tail and bony parts of some
fish such as shark or rayfish. The molavutanni which is known as milahutanni
(Fr.T.milagutanni or ‘pepper-water’) in the Eastern districts such as Amparai
comprises of an invigorating soup made largely with garlic and pepper. It is often
given to women recuperating from childbirth. The term molavutanni may however
also be used to denote a soup made of beef or chicken. Another kind of soup
especially known in the south is the puluppu made by boiling together tomato,
Bombay onion, grated coconut, maldive fish, pepper and salt.
Beverages
day by adding other items which is exactly what kanji still denotes in the Lakshwadweep Islands
33
We find Godamboo kanji figuring in a mid-1930s Moor breakfast along with Alisha (Markar 1977)
34
Lionel Juriansz (Hungry ? A gastronomic voyage. The Times of Ceylon Christmas Number 1951) mentions
sweetened sago porridge and ripe bananas figuring in the typical Moorish breakfast, showing that it has been
popular among the Moors for a considerable time
35
The dish is very probably of Indian origin. Abul Fazl (16 th century) gives khichṛī as a dish made from rice,
mūng dāl and ghī while still earlier, we have Ibn Battuta (14 th century) referring to munj, a kind of green grain
being cooked along with rice and eaten with butter, a dish which he says they call kishrī. In modern industani,
khichḍī denotes a mess of rice cooked with dal and ghee and flavoured with onions and spices.

By far the most popular beverage among the Moors is fāluda 36 , a refreshing
drink of a rosy hue made of milk and rose syrup and often embellished with kaḍalpāsi
or agar agar (Seaweed moss jelly) and kasa kasā (black basil seeds which
assume a soft, gelatinous, translucent coating when placed in water). It may also be
embellished with ispagōl or psyllium (Fleawort seed) husks which is believed to
have cooling and laxative properties and is especially consumed during the month
of Ramadān. The rose syrup usually employed for the purpose is prepared by
heating together essence of rose, sugar, water and red colouring so that it assumes
a deep red colour and a consistency very much like treacle.
Among the other well known beverages may be included saruvat 37 , a sherbet
made with rose syrup though it may also denote a fruit juice made of the juice of
citrus fruits such as lime or orange embellished with pieces of pineapple and kasa
kasā. In the olden days however, saruvat is said to have been commonly made of
lime, pineapple, sugar and water. There is also nannāri, a sherbet made with the
extract of sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indicus) and bādam made with the essence of
almond and consumed with or without milk. Woodapple juice (bulāṅga pāl) made
with the pulp of the ripe woodapple fruit (Limonia acidissima), coconut milk and
jaggery or sugar is also consumed. There is also māṅga pāl which is similarly
made save that mangoes are used instead of woodapple. Another drink consumed
on special occasions is pāl palam (milk and bananas, also known as niyyatu pāl
(intention milk). The drink which is made by boiling milk and adding to it slices of
bananas is given to little children when one’s wishes such as a marriage or
business deal has been realized.
Another refreshing beverage, albeit a hot one, is kahuwa kōpi which is made
with coffee, milk, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon and dried ginger. This beverage is
also known as śukku (lit.dry ginger) in southern regions such as Galle and
36
The beverage is very likely of Arabian, Persian or Indian origin. In Arabic fālūd or falūdaj means ‘a
sweetmeat of flour, water and honey’ and probably derives from the Middle Persian pālūdag. In Persian
pālūda refers to ‘a kind of sweet beverage made of water, flour and honey’. In Hindustani faluda refers to a
drink or its main ingredient prepared from parched ground wheat as well as a kind of vermicelli. In North India,
we often find the term being applied to the noodle-like vermicelli made of corn flour which is used as a garnish
for that Indian ice cream known as kulfi which is often topped with rose-syrup though in Bombay and the
regions around it faluda often refers to the drink. It is therefore possible that faluda originated from the kulfi
topped with rose-syrup so well known in India and that it took its name from the sweet vermicelli added to it, an
item which probably had its origins in the Arab fālūd.
37
The term saruvat is evidently of Arab origin, being derived from the Arabic sharbat meaning a drink or
beverage. The final t is however generally silent in spoken Arabic so that we might have to suppose that the
form saruvat has arisen through the medium of Persian or Hindustani where the final t has been retained.
Although it might have ultimately had an Arab origin as suggested by the name and its occurrence in works
such as the Alf Layla Wa Layla where we comes across references to rose sherbet as in the tale of King
Umar Al-Numan, sugared sherbet scented with rose-water as in the tale of Khalifah and sherbet flavoured
with rose- water, scented with musk and cooled with snow as in the tale of Nur Al-Din Ali and his son, it
were the Turks who apparently popularised it. It originally seems to have denoted as fruit-based drink.
Among theTurks, sherbet was made of the juice of lemons, water and sugar (The general history of the
Turkes.Richard Knolles.1621). Sherbets were also made of roses, rhubarb and tamarinds (Narrative of
travels in Europe, Asia and Africa.Ewliya Čelebi.Trans. J.Von Hammer.1834-1850)

Colombo, especially when taken without milk 38 . Coffee may also be consumed
with milk and sugar while sometimes a mixture of raw egg, jaggery and
cardamoms is added to it in which case it is known as muṭṭa kōpi or “egg coffee’.
also with a raw egg mixed with it. There is also ganjakōpi or Ganja Coffee made
by combining coffee with ganja or cannabis. It is said to be still consumed by the
labouring community of the Eastern Province such as agricultural workers. Tea is
also widely consumed either plain with sugar and ginger or with milk. Nannāri Tī
prepared by adding to the tea a piece of sarsaparilla is known to be popular in the
eastern districts such as Batticaloa.
The Moors of old are also known to have consumed an intoxicating beverage
known as sabji. This beverage is said to have been common until about the 1970s
when it gradually declined. John Attygalle 39 refers to sabji as being used largely
by the ‘Mohammedans’. He gives it as a preparation made of ganja or cannabis
powder, mixed with black pepper, cucumber, melon seeds and sugar, half a pint of
milk and an equal quantity of water. The recipe however was not always the same
for we were informed by several elderly folk of Gintota that the beverage was
prepared with opium, cannabis, eggs, kitul jaggery, mashed banana of the kōlikuttu
variety and a white form of poppy seed known as vella kasakasā. Dikwella in the
south is said to have been well known for the beverage 40 . There can be no doubt
that from a religious viewpoint, such intoxicating beverages are harām in keeping
with the Qur’ānic injunction 5:90 and the Prophetic tradition (Abu Dāwūd) 41 .
Desserts and Sweetmeats
38
The beverage is probably of Arab origin. The term kahuwa itself seems to have originated from the Arabic
qahwa ‘coffee’. Noordeen (1958) gives the term gehwa for kahuwa kōpi. The tradition of adding condiments
such as cardamom to coffee has very probably been influenced by Arab custom. The practice is alluded to
by Lane (1836) who says that the Egyptians often add ‘cardamon-seed’ to their coffee. It is not unlikely that
coffee has figured in the life of the Moors as among their Arab brethren for quite some time. Coffee was known
among the Arabs since at least the 15 th century, having had its origins in the Kaffa Province south of Abyssinia
before being introduced to Mokha in Yemen C.1430 by Shaykh Al- Shazili whence it began to spread to other
parts of the Arab world (See Burton 1964). Indeed, there are those like John Ferguson (Ceylon in 1883) who
believe that it was the Arab traders who first introduced to the island the coffee plant.
39
Sinhalese Materia Medica (1917)
40
This sabji is evidently of Indian origin and appears to be identical with the sabzi of the Indians ‘an
intoxicating potion made of bhang’ (Forbes 1857). Richard Burton in his translation of the Arabian Nights
observes that sabzi is prepared with dried hemp leaves, poppy seed, cucumber seed, black pepper and
cardamoms rubbed down in a mortar with a wooden pestle and made drinkable by adding milk.
41
Some have however sought to justify or permit the taking of narcotic substances in quantities that will not
intoxicate. The Fathud-Dayyan for instance declares to be haram substances that cause injury to a person’s
intelligence such as for instance toddy, arrack and other intoxicating drinks and when taken in larger
quantities ganja, opium, nutmeg and its mace. It adds that a little opium or ganja may be added to medicines
where necessary and that nutmeg and mace may be eaten in quantities that will not intoxicate.

Luncheons in the olden days are said to have been followed by a dessert known
as pāl-cōru or ‘milk-rice’ which consisted of cooked rice in mashed plantain taken
with sugar and curd or woodapple cream and jaggery. The dish probably survives
in the kariyal or karacci soru of the Eastern Moors. It is prepared by mixing rice
together with curd, bananas and sugar or mixing the rice with coconut milk,
woodapple juice and sugar. Chitty (1834) refers to the females of the family
presenting to the bridegroom a cup of bruised plantains and milk (very much like
strawberries and cream) when on his way to the home of the bride on the wedding
day. The same is said to have been presented to the boy before he was circumcised.
All this would suggest that this dish was well known among the Moors of yore and
was often consumed on ceremonial occasions.
Among the desserts or sweet dishes commonly indulged by the Moors of today,
the vaṭṭalappam, a rich pudding made with eggs, coconut milk, jaggery and
cardamoms, occupies the foremost place 42 . This soft brownish pudding is prepared
by adding a mixture of heated jaggery, coconut milk and ground cardamoms to a
stock of beaten eggs after which the whole is poured into bowls and steamed till it
assumes a firm consistency. It is often served with bananas, usually of the kōlikuttu
variety. Firiny which Noordeen (1958) says is made with milk, sugar, semolina and
vermicelli, probably has its origins in the Hindustani firni, a sweet dish made of
milk, sugar and ground rice. Today the term may also denote a semolina or milk or
custard pudding embellished with cashewnuts and raisins and often served with
bananas. Sanjā, a jelly made of seaweeds such as kaḍalpāsi also known as Jaffna
or Ceylon moss (Gracilaria lichenoides) and agar agar or China moss ( Gelidium
amansii) commonly found in the coastal areas of the Indian ocean is also well
known. The jelly is formed by boiling the dried seaweed in water before adding
sugar and some colouring (in case it has not been previously coloured) to it. Milk
is also sometimes added to it 43 .
Cakes are also known and a special kind of cake prepared by the Moors is the
bōl, a spongy cake made of rice flour, sugar, eggs and cardamoms, all baked to
42
Vaṭṭalappam is evidently a corruption of the T.vaṭṭil ‘cup’ + appam ‘cake’, hence vaṭṭilappam ‘cup-cake’.
The dessert seems to have been formerly known as vla, evidently a Dutch loan. Louis Nell (An explanatory
list of Dutch words adopted by the Sinhalese. The Orientalist.1888-89) notes that the Dutch term vla ‘a
custard’ is applied by the Moormen to a custard which has a vernacular name in vattil-appan evidently of
Tamil origin. The dish is however unknown to the Tamils.
43
The term sanja used for the jelly does not appear to have a Dravidian, Hindustani or Arabian origin.
Deraniyagala (1933) alludes to Ceylon moss being called chan-chow parsi locally, a name which he believes
to be of Chinese origin. He adds that it is to be obtained in the markets of most towns and that hawkers of
cool drinks prepare a jelly from it known as chan-chow which sets without the aid of ice. It would appear that it
is this chan-chow that eventually became our sanja. It is a well attested fact that the initial voiceless palatal c
tends to undergo sibilization (become s) in the refined Tamil of the Moors while the palatal c following a nasal
is softened to j. Thus it is not unlikely that a term like chanchow could have become sanja with time. It is very
likely that the term chanchow itself had its origins in the Chinese chin-chow or ‘grass jelly’ which is prepared
very much like our sanja though it is often drunk as well.

form little bowl-shaped cakes 44 . Another kind of cake commonly made in the
olden days, but hardly if at all today is the aḍa 45 , made of flour, eggs, coconut
milk, sugar or jaggery, which are tempered in coconut milk, onions and ramba
before baking it by heating it in a fire below and placing above it heated coconut
shells. The Moors of Jaffna are said to have made a similar cake known as aḍai
with rice flour, egg and sugar and often embellished with cashewnuts or peanuts.
Eastern folk are however still believed to make the inippu aḍai, a cake made of
roasted rice flour, roasted green gram, dates, peanuts, eggs, sugar and coconut
milk.
A sweetmeat known as koḷukkaṭṭai is also still made in certain conservative
areas like the Eastern Province. It is prepared by placing into the centre of a flat,
circular shaped piece of dough made of rice flour, a mixture of roasted and
coarsely pounded green gram, grated coconut, jaggery and cardamom powder
before folding it into two so that the ends meet to form a semicircle after which the
ends are pressed together to form a frilled pattern before it is steamed 46 .Paniyāram
or oil cakes are prepared by frying a batter of flour, jaggery and coconut milk in
coconut oil until a golden brown. It is identical with the paniyāram of the Tamils
and kävum of the Sinhalese. The Moors of the Eastern districts such as Batticaloa
also prepare what is known as kaivicci paniyāram, an oil cake made by mixing the
treacle-like juice obtained by placing marudam (Terminalia glabra) leaves in
water, with flour and sugar and forming it into a dough which is taken by the hand
and put into boiling coconut oil. Sugar syrup is thereafter added to it as a topping.
The Moors of Jaffna also had two more varieties, namely, the sittundi
paniyaram prepared by frying a batter of rice or wheat flour, coconut milk and egg
to form diamond-shaped cakes which were topped with heated sugar liquid
resulting in a white crystalline surface, and the panangāi paniyāram prepared by
mixing rice or wheat flour with the pulp of the palmyra fruit ( Borassus flabellifer)
and sugar to form onion-shaped boluses which were then fried until a golden
brown.
Aliyataram is prepared by adding rice flour and course rice particles left over
after pounding the rice into boiling treacle or sugar syrup to form a dough after
which it is formed into little boluses and flattened before frying until a golden
44
The cake it is possible takes its name from the English term bowl whose shape it resembles or else is a
corruption of bolo, a word evidently of Potuguese origin and denoting a kind of cake (See An explanatory list of
Portuguese words adopted by the Sinhalese.Louis Nell. The Orientalist.1888-89).
45
Evidently a corruption of the T.aḍai meaning ‘cake or bread in general’
46
This sweetmeat is also known among the Tamils of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and appears to be
Tamil in origin. In South India however the term kolukkaṭṭai denotes a ‘bolus like preparation of rice flour
usually with coconut scrapings, sugar etc’ (MTL 1926).

own. Poravam is prepared by mixing together rice flour and green gram flour
with ghee after which is it cut into squares and fried in ghee.
Among the other well known sweetmeats may be included maskat, an oily
sweetmeat made of wheat flour, ghee, sugar and cashewnuts and coloured green,
red or yellow. It is usually characterized by a soft crust that forms on the sides of
its outer surface 47 . Another well known muscat is that known as śavvarsi maskat
made of sago, ghee, sugar and cashewnuts. It is known as śavanarśi maskat among
Galle people. The Moors of the Eastern areas like Nindavur also prepare a dark
brownish muscat known as lodal by boiling together rice flour, coconut milk and
sugar. The Moors of Jaffna now dispersed to other areas prepared a similar muscat
they called dodol made of rice flour, coconut milk and a course sugar known as
sakkarai. These are very much similar to the dodol of the Malays and would have
probably been borrowed from them. There is also jalabi, a golden-coloured, spiral,
tubular sweetmeat made of a batter of wheat or rice flour, gram flour and curd fried
in oil and soaked in a thick sugar syrup while still hot whereupon it absorbs the
sugar which forms a sweet liquid inside while crystallizing on the surface. This
delectable, crispy sweetmeat is often consumed during the Ramaḍān period 48 . It is
commonly known as tēnkulal (lit.honey-tube) in the eastern districts where it is
often coloured red.
Also well known, especially in the urban areas like Colombo, are the gulāb
jamun, spongy little brown croquettes made of milk, flour and margarine, fried in
oil and soaked in a thick syrup made of sugar and rose essence 49 . Yet another
delectable sweetmeat commonly prepared in Moorish homes is ambarelikā dōsi
made by boiling forked hog plum (Spondias mangifera) in a syrup of sugar, water
and powdered cardamoms. Other similar confections include mānga dōsi made
with mango and annāsikā dōsi made with pineapple.
Among the other dainties indulged by the Moors may be included palahāram
which is made by mixing flour, egg and coconut milk after which it is cut into
squares or some other shape and fried. This is then tossed into a syrup made of
47
Maskat appears to be of Arab origin and may have taken its name from the capital of Oman Masqat which
has been renowned for this sweetmeat. Robert Binning (A Journal of Two years travel in Persia, Ceylon
etc.1857) says that in Muscat is made a kind of sweetmeat called halwa-composed of the starch of wheat,
fine sugar, rasped almonds and clarified butter. He adds that this sweetmeat is made in large quantities and
exported to different parts of India and Persia where it is greatly esteemed.
48
Although a well known Hindustani sweetmeat, jalebi probably has its origins in the zalābiya of the Arabs
among whom it has been known for centuries. For instance in the Tale of Dalilah the Crafty and her daughter
Zaynab occurring in the Alf Layla Wa Layla we come across a reference to these honey-fritters (zalābiya bi
asal) being consumed in Baghdad.
49
This delectable item of food is of Hindustani origin. It literally means ‘rose-apple’

sugar, water and rose-water and stored to be consumed at leisure or at some festive
occasion. Another type of palahāram, the suruttu palahāram is similarly made
save that the dough is formed into little boluses which are then flattened and rolled,
hence the name suruttu ‘roll, scroll or cigar’. It is especially known among the
Moors of the Eastern districts like Trincomalee. Another typical eastern
sweetmeat, ellu comprises of little boluses made of grated coconut, roasted
gingelly and jaggery. Yet another known as ellu kali is prepared by cooking in
coconut milk a mixture of roasted rice flour, roasted gingelly, black gram, sugar,
cinnamon and cardamoms. Poribulāṅga, well known in the south though rarely
made nowadays is prepared by mixing roasted and ground white rice, grated
coconut and jaggery to form little boluses very much resembling the woodapple,
hence its name 50 . There is also surtappam (lit.rolled cake) a pancake filled with a
mixture of grated coconut, melted jaggery and cardamoms, and aval, a mixture of
beaten rice, sliced bananas, grated jaggery and thick coconut milk 51 .
There is however one item of food that has a universal appeal among the
Moors, and that is the date (īcca palam) which figures significantly in the life of
the community, especially on religious occasions. Although there exists a variety
of date palm peculiar to the island known as iňdi or the Ceylon Date Palm
(Phoenix zeylanicus) which is found in the southern coast and which yields a sweet
edible pulp, it is not produced on a commercial scale and the dates consumed
locally are usually imported from Iraq and Saudi Arabia 52 . The Moors of the east
such as the Batticaloa region are said to have been so fond of dates that they used
to store them in pots filled with bees’ honey which is said to have made a most
delicious dessert.
50
This item may have had its origins in the T.porivilāṅkāi ‘cake of baked meal, resembling vilām fruit’
(Winslow 1862)
51
Some traditional Moor recipes peculiar to the East may be found in Cultural Rhapsody. Ceremonial Food and
Rituals of Sri Lanka by Vinodini De Silva while those peculiar to the South may be found in Southern Pride
Muslim Cookery Book by Zohara Vilcassim.
52
The date has figured significantly in the life of the Arab since time immemorial and an old Arab tradition
has it “Honour your aunt, the palm, which was made of the same clay as Adam” (Husn Al- Muhādarah.Suyūti
1321). A saying of the Prophet also has it that “There is a tree among the trees which is similar to a Muslim, and
that is the date-palm tree” (Bukhāri)