The Oxford Companion to Food and Ethnic Confectionery Index

• Asmi — A traditional festive dessert from Sri Lanka, consisting of a crispy deep-fried sweet made from rice flour and coconut milk, thickened using the juice extracted from 'davul kurundu' leaves (wild cinnamon); the batter is poured in thin overlapping strands into hot oil to form a bird's nest structure and finally drizzled with a thick, colorful treacle or sugar syrup, serving as a staple sweet for the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year.