Dosi ( si, දෝසි, ta, தோசி) is a traditional Sri Lankan confectionery, similar in nature to fruit preserves or candied fruit. The dish is prepared by boiling segmented fruit in sugar and allowing it to cool in order for the sugar to crystallise on both the surface and the inside of the fruit. Dosi are traditionally served as a snack, during the day or after a meal. It is a dish that is commonly served by

Sri Lankan Malays Sri Lankan Malays ( ''Shri Lanka Mæle Janathava'' (Standard); ''Mæle Minissu / Ja Minissu'' (Colloquially); are Sri Lankans with full or partial ancestry from the Indonesian Archipelago, Malaysia, or Singapore. In addition, people from Brune ...

as a part of traditional

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

celebrations, marking the end of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

. It is also popular during weddings, religious festivals and other social functions and celebrations. Variations include the addition of

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are rec ...

and/or

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

and/or rose essence. The most popular version is the sweet light yellow puhul-dosi ( si, පුහුල් දොසි), which is made from

wintermelon ''Benincasa hispida'', the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the o ...

(ash pumpkin). Other versions include inguru-dosi ( si, ඉගුරු දෝසි ), made of ginger; pol-dosi ( si, පොල් ටොෆි), made from coconut; annasi-dosi or annāsikā-dosi ( si, අන්නාසි දොසි), made of pineapple; ambarella-dosi ( si, ඇඹරැල්ලා දෝසි), made of

ambarella ''Spondias dulcis'' ( syn. ''Spondias cytherea''), known commonly as () in Sri Lanka or June plum, is a tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. In the English speaking Caribbean it is typically known as golden apple and el ...

(june plum); amba-dosi or mānga-dosi ( si, අඹ දෝසි), made from mango; ala-dosi ( si, අල දෝසි), made from potatoes; kiri-dosi ( si, කිරි දෝසි) made of milk; apple dosi; jambu-dosi ( si, ජම්බු දෝසි), made of

java plum Java plum is a common name for the edible fruits of several tropical tree species, and may refer to: *''Syzygium cumini'', native to India and southeast Asia *''Spondias mombin ''Spondias mombin'', also known as yellow mombin or hog plum is a sp ...

; ambarelikā-dosi, made with

hog plum Hog plum is a common name for several plants that produce edible fruit, and may refer to: *Species of the genus ''Spondias'' **''Spondias dulcis'' **''Spondias mombin'' **''Spondias pinnata'' *Species of the genus ''Colubrina'' *''Prunus rivularis'' ...

; nelli-dosi, made from

gooseberries Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the genu ...

; biling-dosi; lovi-dosi ( si, ලොවි දෝසි), made from batoko fruit (commonly known in Sri Lanka as lovi-lovi); rambutan-dosi ( si, රඹුටන් දෝසි) made from

rambutan Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to s ...

; and banana-dosi or kesel-dosi ( si, කෙසෙල් දෝසි). In

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, doçe simply means ‘sweet’, which is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''dolce'' and the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

derivative is 'dosi'. It is generally considered that this dish had its origins in the

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...

region and was brought to the country by Portuguese sailors, who devised this method of preserving fruit for long sea journeys. Boiling the fruit in a sugar syrup effectively stops micro-organisms that spoil fruit by drawing off water from their cells or destroying them by

desiccation Desiccation () is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. A desiccant is a hygroscopic (attracts and holds water) substance that induces or sustains such a state in its local vicinity in a moderately sealed container. ...

References

{{Sri Lankan cuisine Confectionery Sri Lankan desserts and sweets Preserved fruit Food preservation

See also

References