Murraya koenigalle

Place: Amaya Hills. Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Murraya koenigalle, a comfort dish in Sri Lanka, is a red-rice
porridge with curry leaves. The dish has a refreshing taste and a mild
finish.

See the full gallery on Posterous

White Diamond lemon arrak

Made from fermented fruit, grains and sugarcane, arrak is a distilled
alcohol typically found in south and southeast Asia. This particular
arrak, rated at 33% v/v, is imbued with a sappy lemon nose. The taste
is straightforward, with the sweet, refreshing taste of the lemon
masking the alcohol's strong punch. While the finish is short and not
particularly exciting, there is no unfavorable aftertaste. I could see
it as a great mid-afternoon companion, especially under the intense
heat of the summer.

Woodapple juice

Place: Heritance Kandalama. Kandalama/Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

Freshly made woodapple juice at sunset, overlooking Kandalama Lake.

Sri Lankan egg hoppers

Place: Heritance Kandalama. Kandalama/Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

My favorite Sri Lankan breakfast: hoppers two-ways and the sambol
trifecta (pol sambol, seeni sambol, katta sambol).

Pastries at the Pagoda Tea Room

Place: Pagoda Tea Room. Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dish: assorted pastries.

Nothing beats starting the day with a sumptuous breakfast of fried and
baked food. Pagoda Tea Room, a well-regarded institution among Colombo
residents, serves up some of the finest, freshest pastries in town.
For my breakfast, I ordered (clockwise from right): fish cutlets, fish
and egg pastry, and fish roll.

Getting to the Pagoda Tea Room is not easy: due to its close proximity
to the presidential compound, the road leading to the restaurant is
completely road-blocked and under severe military surveillance. I am
able to sneak in only after showing my passport and ensuring that all
the destruction I could muster while visiting Pagoda is, by way of
their food's oily excesses, to my health. Humor does help.

Breakfast near Sri Pada

Place: Yellow House. Near the entrance to Sri Pada, Sri Lanka.

After an exhausting overnight hike to the peak of Sri Pada, a
sumptuous breakfast is on offer: guava juice, guava fruits, papaya,
mango, sour bananas, toasts, two eggs, and coffee.

Fried rice with chicken and a fried boiled egg

Place: The Grand Hotel. Nuwaraeliya, Sri Lanka.

The Grand Hotel, formerly a vacation home for a British aristocrat, is
by all means pompous and extravagant. The menu at its restaurant does
not suggest otherwise, with an impressive offering of meats and
seafood dishes prepared in traditional Anglo-French ways. But I
thought I'd stick with local flavors and try their local food. This
fried rice is flavorful, with plenty of juicy bits of chicken and
toasted nuts. The best, however, is the fried boiled egg, which
provides a heavenly conflation of texture upon mastication, with the
crispiness of the fried surface balancing the softness of the egg's
inner core. The floral surface suggests a healthy helping of pepper,
light spices, and salt.

Home-made fish cutlets

Place: a private home. Sri Lanka.

Nip's mom makes the world's best fish cutlets. The Maldive fish is
first chopped (not ground) and then mixed with potatoes, chopped
onions, ground pepper, curry, and held together by egged breadcrumbs.
It is then fried in flavored hot oil. Upon plating, the fish cutlets
are already inviting, with a shiny surface and a plump shape. Upon
mastication, the cutlets burst with flavors of the sea and of an
accomplished kitchen. Most importantly, each bite effuses warmth and
hospitality -- which makes visitors like me feel instantly at home.
Thank you, Nip and mom!

A Sri Lankan+Indian buffet

Place: Raja Bojun. Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dish: A hearty buffet platter (x3), with a cold bottle of EGB, a
ginger beer and Sri Lankans' favorite non-alcoholic drink.

See the full gallery on Posterous