Lankalicious!

Here's another tasty sample of some of the culinary delights I've been enjoying since I got to Sri Lanka.  This time, there's a theme - we're going to track through a normal day in my life of edibles.  Please note my use of interesting transitions this time...as soon as I download the 'starwipe' feature, I'll use it exclusively, I promise.

First up - freshly picked papaya.  Supervisor picked this up from his garden at home (yes, they grow papayas in their yards here) and we enjoyed a few slices before starting in on protecting human rights.  This beats the living crap out of my light 'bagel-from-a-truck' breakfast that I normally enjoyed in Midtown every morning.

Afterwards, another set of rice and curry classics - first is the standard lunch that has enough different names that I can't remember any of them.  Basic components - red rice, dal, stir fry veggies and a pickled egg curry that's out of this world.  Going rate for this awesome lunch spread?  140 rupees.  Yup. That's a buck twenty five kids.  Following soon after that is some homemade stirfry chicken and red sauce with milk rice.  Don't worry ma, it's coconut milk, so my tummy is ok.

Once I've sufficiently filled up on lunch rice and curry, I'll take a walk over to the only restaurant in town open after 7 pm and pick up a nice variety of rotti's for the evening.  Here we have a simple egg rotti, then veggie and chicken.  The chicken one has a spice in it that I don't even pretend to know how to identify, but it's absence from my life up to this point is nothing short of criminal.  If you internet folks know what it is, I'm waiting to figure it out so I can stock up and then give it to everyone for Hannukah in a few weeks.

Finally, we close out the day with a little well earned dessert.  What you see here is a ridiculously sweet coconut and jaggery crepe.  It'll give you a cavity and you'll come back begging for more.