If you grew up in the 90’s in Sri Lanka, chances are that you are of the custard pudding generation.Back in the day, custard pudding and jelly was a delicacy. It was what our mothers made for us on Sundays and on any other day if we were good. It was what was served at dinner parties in fancy bowls, ...
…other than disposing of it down one’s own throat that is.Christmas and New Year celebrations had come and gone and lots of wine bottles with varying amounts of wine still in them are lying around with no corks to keep them bottled on. I’ve faced the same problem somewhere along the line. This is where the grapes in wine came ...
Who doesn’t love a bit of rum and chocolate? This is adult business.Dark rum and dark chocolate- both as black as sin and feels as good as sin. And the combination – and I have tried this before – is just so divine that you will be lost within the throes of longing.I just happened to run into this wealth ...
Once a year, the whole family, mother, father, brother and myself flanked by a plethora of family friends and their families head down to Katharagama to pay homage to the great Lord Muruga who resides in the Katatharagama temple. In my child’s head, this little ritual of ours was not so much a pilgrimage but a journey filled with fascination ...
If there is one thing I do properly (and get made fun of) during any trip, is eating.I like to eat my way around a country and let’s just say it is my method of discovering a land. And in this trip exploring British food, I was often seen raiding supermarkets, local butcher’s and street stalls in an ultimate mission ...
3 o’clock in the afternoon. Wherever you are in this paradise isle, your nose lures you in from inside your house towards the neighborhood bakery where hot goodies are being unloaded from traditional wood fired ovens at a particular time of the day. Because of this various smells fill the air out of which the most prominent is that warm ...
When I was small, weekend afternoons always brought in treats. My mother being a working woman would be more or less at leisure during the weekend and we know that this is when the good stuff comes out. The sound of grating, pots bubbling, cutting and chopping in the general direction of the kitchen excited us and we would sneak ...
We Sri Lankans not only eat our cashew. We cook them.April brings with it an abundant harvest of cashew nuts, strewn under trees for the picking. Several years back when cashew was not cultivated as a commercial crop, little girls and boys would make a competition out of it, seeing as to who would collect the most of those little ...
So sometimes I have these HUMONGOUS carb cravings.I generally avoid carbs in day to day life and stick to proteins and fiber-rich food which keep me full and revitalized. Carbs slow me down and make me put on grotesquely and I can’t have that. With me running around taking care of a recovering dengue patient these days, I just don’t ...
I’m not a fish eater. As silly as it sounds, I hate the fishy in the fish. But strangely though, I seem to just adore these mackerel and egg parcels.Flaky, buttery crust enveloping the strong flavored mackerel and the custardy yolk of half an egg is just the most sublime feeling on earth. The strong taste of mackerel is what ...
The intoxicating smell of butter burning, the thin crackle of the sugar as it breaks the surface, that warmth of browning cookies in the oven on a particularly gloomy day turns any bad day into a beamingly good one. As you drift towards the kitchen you are greeted by the sweet sensuousness of vanilla extending its delicate tendrils towards you ...
Anyone who has been following this blog would have noticed that I am obsessed with Italian fare. And among the “Italian fare” the constant follower would have also noticed that my absolute addiction happens to be risotto. Well if you haven’t noticed, now you know. I have also been obsessed with seafood lately (see Nasi goreng and seafood fettuccine) and when I ...
This recipe is actually my mother’s finding. In her mission to feed us all healthy, she is always conjuring up numerous things, always out of ingredients in her own garden. She has her own herb garden upstairs and almost all the greens we consume come from there. This cashew and gotukola relish can be had as a side dish to ...
Pots overflowed, oil spat, splattered and fried and smoke filled our houses. And we overzealous lot are currently in a constant state of overeaten stupor with our pantries and kitchens overflowing with various goodies, prepared specially for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.Abundance is the theme of every Sri Lankan New Year in our beautiful island.According to the Sinhala Calendar, ...
Whenever we were entertaining large groups (of that there were many because there are never small groups when it comes to Sri Lankan gatherings) whether it be for tea, for goodie plates on avururdu or some other occasion, my mother always used to say “Let’s make a date cake”. And there I would sit with a knife and a chopping board, slicing ...
This is a dish that I quite brainlessly prepare. This dish is so mundane and I prepare it so regularly that never have I even considered blogging about it. But a recent chat with an acquaintance made me realize that not a lot of people are aware that they can make hummus at home. Hence the blog post. I’m not a ...
So here I am breaking a two week long silence. Times have been crazy, ‘crazy’ being an understatement. But finally I am here, looking at a blissfully long weekend filled with plenty leisure and lots of great food adventures. Potato fudge or Ala toffee as we Sri Lankans know it, is something that is loved by many but not really ...
I like to think that passion fruits traps the sun and encases its bright lemon rays within their thick, plastic-like outer covering. For me, this is what passion fruit tastes like – sunshine, smiles and glorious sunsets over warmed ocean water kissed by the sun.Hubster has a vine of passion fruit that has grown into a thick moss colored mass ...
Walking through a market space in Sri Lanka is a rewarding experience. Multicolored hues greet you jubilantly in the form of dewy fresh vegetables and lusciously ripe fruit while vendors announce their goods in singsong voices urging you to purchase, to enjoy. Ripened mangoes fit to burst saturate the air with their delicious fragrance while papaya gleams golden in a ...
Spanish food took me by surprise. It took me by the hand, lifted me off the ground and set me amongst the clouds. I am in love.Spain is its food. The vivacity of flavour in Spanish cuisine is a genuine reflection of the liveliness of its people, their warmth and their love for life. Countless spices, condiments and elements tumble ...
