Visiting Colombo

What could have been a better timing to visit Sri Lanka than Vesak? The whole country is illuminated and there is festivity in the air.

Vesak is celebrated to commemorate the birth and nirvana of Gautam Buddha. It is both a religious and a cultural festival. It falls on full moon day in the month of Vesak or Baisakh, the lunar calendar coinciding with sometime in May of the Gregorian calendar. The festivities vary from 3 days to a week.

illuminated temple

lighted streets

The city looks beautiful with lanterns called vesak kodoo. Earlier, earthern lamps were used but gradually over a period of time, these paper or fabric lanterns have taken over.  I see most of them with a plastic covering so as to protect electric bulb from possibility of a short circuit in case there is a rainfall. The lanterns signify an offering to Buddha who delivered the message of Dharma.

lanterns in airport welcome passengers

lanterns in our hotel lobby

An array of lanterns

Beautiful innovative lanterns are made using coir, shells, jute and placed  around the city and attracts flocks of people to see the exhibits.  Competitions are also held and prizes given to the best entry.

Dansala:
Another important activity which takes place during these days is dansala or offering food or drinks to people. The word dansala is taken from the Pali word daan meaning charity or giving.  It is an ancient Buddhist practice of sharing food with everyone.

Not only is food given to people who visit the stall but is shared with all passerby and it is common to see people giving small packets through windows in a taxi. We both got a packet each too :)

dansala offering hot drink

Information regarding dansalas is advertised in newspaper.  I saw this on an online newspaper :

"A rice dansala organised by the Traders Association of the Peliyagoda Central Fish Market Complex, Sri Lanka Fisheries Corporation and Three-Wheeler Drivers Association will be held on May 15 and 16. 

A rice and curry dansela will be held at the Dasa Stores on May 15 from 12 noon to 12 mid night.  

Another vegetable soup dansela which has been organised by the Buddhist circle at Puhudela junction Hiripitiya, will be held on May 15 from 12 noon to 12 pm.  

A rice and curry dansela organised by the Puhdelgahawatta Buddhist Youth Club will be held on May 16 from 12 noon to 12 pm. 

13th May: An ice cream dansala is taking place right now at Sanga Raja Mawatha Colombo 10.

17th May: Academy of Multimedia Design & Technology will host an ice cream dansala at 4 pm at 20 Shrubbery Gardens, Colombo 04.

14th May: A sago dansala will take place on the 14th of May 7 PM - 12 AM at 217 High Level Road Nugegoda between Hotel School and the Louvre International School at Nugegoda."

Pandol or thorana or toran:
Torans are actually gateway or the main entrance.  But, in Sri Lanka numerous Pandols or torans are erected which illustrate a story from Jataka tales which are stories that  tell about the previous lives of Buddha. 

A Pandol on Galle sea face

The Pandol are illuminated after dark. 

picture of Pandol taken from train 

 Many people get together for bhakti gee or devotional Buddhist songs.

a group singing Bhakti gee

On the last day of festivities, we went to Gangaramaya Buddhist temple in Colombo.

Gangaramaya Buddhist temple:

This beautiful temple located close to Briera lake, in addition to being a place of worship, also houses a Buddhist school, a library, a museum which has many expensive gifts donated by devotees.

decorated elephant                    Dancers ready for procession              entrance to temple

Inside the temple, there are many huge statues of Lord Buddha. I have pasted some pictures below. 

Hair relic in the central glass dome with golden top

This temple has a hair relic which is only displayed on important days.

procession concluding Vesak

Its been ten days past Vesak, occassional lanterns and flags can still be seen hanging.  One year to go for the return of this lively festival.

I enjoyed looking at the golden peaceful posture of Buddha from my hotel window everyday.

Huge sitting Buddha in Sri Sambuddhaloka Vihara Buddhist Temple

Sri Sambuddhaloka Vihara Buddhist Temple

This temple is situated next to the huge Buddha statue and also has a library inside.

Independence Monument

close-up 

Independence Memorial Hall

In between the two lions, you see a door which leads to memorial museum situated in the basement.

Briera lake and top of Sri Sambuddhaloka Vihara Buddhist Temple

How can I conclude this post on Sri Lanka without any mention of Kola Kenda and hoppers?

healthy porridge to start your day

Kola kenda is porridge or soup which is taken for breakfast. The extreact of herbs is added to cooked mashed rice along with coconut milk.  This is usually taken with a piece of palm sugar called kithul.  In fact, there are varieties of herbs which can be used to make this healthy drink.  Welpenela, the write up of which you see in the picture above is also one of the herbs often used in making kola kenda. It is commonly called balloon vine.  I have pasted some pictures of herbs which I took from the vegetable section  in a supermarket. To avoid this labor intensive work, and till I find a shorter way to it,  I got a few packets of this drink in powder form.

I made a version of this using fresh spinach leaves paste.

some herbs used in kola kenda

Freshly made hoppers

Hoppers? I dont need to give any introduction to this dish.

stews for hoppers

They are usually eaten with a stew and a spicy chutney called  sambal. I also tasted the egg hopper where an egg is placed on to the hopper while it is cooking.  A perfect combination for a healthy breakfast.

But more than anything I immensely enjoyed honey hoppers. The batter had a taste of cardamom and the drizzle of honey gave it an awesome taste. Oh drooling.......

spicy and sweet sambals

A walk along the sea is always welcome and refreshing though it was very humid when we went.  It was waiting for monsoons to hit.  On weekends, this place is thronged by  people of all ages.

enjoying the weekend

snack time

kites soaring high !

Negombo is around 37 kms from Colombo and is one of the major cities in Sri Lanka.

sun set at Negombo beach

another click of sunset at Negombo beach

My holiday soon came to an end and with these beautiful memories, I return home. But, not without adding to my weight. I have put on 2 kgs and now I plan to get back to my routine and stop myself from indulging on any of those goodies :(

Aloo ke gutkey, Kumaon

A visit to a Kumauni family or Kumaun in Uttarakhand is never complete without having tasted the famous aloo ke gutkey with cucumber raita and poori.  It is also one of the quickest and favorite dishes of Kumaun. 

It looks like the usual aloo subzi but the tempering with a special herb imparts the peculiar flavor to this dish. Before  I proceed with this post, let me give a short introduction on the special herb which is going to be used, Jambu.

aloo ke gutkey

Jambu:

There is no parallel to this herb but I have noticed that since it belongs to Alium family, chives give a hint of this flavor. It is also extensively used in Nepali cuisine where it is called jimbu.
It is sold as a dry grass which is actually the greens of the plant. This is one of the most important herb in flavoring of Kumauni dishes like aloo ke ghutkey, bhatt ki chudkani, dupkey, ras, urad daal to name a few. They impart a wonderful aroma when used as a tempering.
Ingredients:
4-5 medium sized potatoes
4 tbsp preferably mustard oil
1 bayleaf
1 dried red chilli, broken into pieces
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tsp jambu
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp kashmiri mirch
Method:
Peel potatoes and cut them into thick wedges.  Put them in water so that they do not turn black.
Keep the spices ready.

spices used 

Forgot to put cumin seeds in the plate :(

jambu

Heat oil in a pan, let the mustard oil smoke.  Lower the heat and add bayleaf, dried red chilli pieces, asafoetida, cumin seeds, and lastly,  jambu.

tempering the oil

To the dry spice mixture, add a little water to make it into a paste.  Add this paste to the  hot oil . Since, the temperature of oil is going to be very high, adding water to the spice mixture prevents them from getting burnt.  This is the tip my mother taught me.

adding the spices

When the oil separates from the spices, add potato wedges and salt to taste. Cover and let them cook on medium heat.
Stir periodically so that the potatoes do not burn.

mixing spices with potatoes

Turn down heat once the potatoes get cooked.

final Aloo Gutkey in pan

Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle coriander leaves on top. Serve with hot pooris or just have it with a cup of tea.

ready to be served

My Notes:
Mustard oil needs to be smoked or aloo gutka does not taste good.
Slit green chillies can also be added along with potatoes.

Time to tickle my palate in Bhutan

So much chillies in the vegetable market made me think that Bhutanese cuisine had to be spicy. The place where we stayed arranged a Bhutanese meal complete with Bhutanese attire for us to wear.

The 5 course candle light dinner was perfect. It was quite cold outside but the heaters closeby kept us warm. The ambience was perfect.

I am not a very adventurous eater so asked for small portions of everything.

We decided to go for a mocktail of coconut milk and pineapple. Yes, a pinacolada sans rum !

Momos are universal so  pork momos arrived with cucumber salad. The momos were soft and tasty. I had to add some chilli sauce to spice them up though.

Phaksha besum came next.  It was pork and beans. Not outstanding I would say.

The most important accompaniment to any dish, chilli sauce .......

Jaasha pa, which was thinly sliced radish and chicken. I could'nt taste the radish in it. The juices were so much absorbed by them. The chicken was tender and well cooked. Quite a tasty dish.

Now, the dish I had been waiting for and heard so much about. Ema datshi ( ema is chilli and datsche is cheese ) or the chilli-cheese. Here, additional asparagus was added. I had expected it to be flaming hot but it turned out to be very mellow. Traditionally, yak cheese or home made cow cheese is added but here they added Amul cheese. Whatever, the end result was too good. I refused to think about the calorie intake :)

This is nakey and you see plenty of it in market. This is a fern which grows in plenty in Bhutan.  It can either be made stir fried or in combination with cheese and chilli called Nakey datschi. Himanshu Kandpal, thanks for sending this picture.

This fern is a source of vitamins, iron in addition to antioxidants and omega-3.  We were served nakey without cheese.

Now stir fried greens with chilli was served.  It was not that great. All meals are served with red rice which is  a staple grain in Bhutan and a healthy choice instead of white rice.

To cater to our sweet tooth, creme caramel and chocolate mousse was served. Bhutanese usually do not have desserts, no doubt they don't put on weight ! We were leaving the next day, so it was such a nice gesture.....

Deepraj and Pema made the dinner possible

Not a part of this dinner but this drink is very important and is served at every home to any guests. It is also a warming tea/soup during the cold winters. Suja or the butter tea. Salted butter is added to hot water or milk. It is churned to make a homogenous thick drink. Somtimes crispy rice is added to the bowl.

The food on flight back home had kewa datschi with tomatoes ( potatoes with cheese and tomatoes). My husband asked for 3 more helpings of ema datschi which is chillies and cheese, see in a small foil dish. The dish, unlike last time, was flaming hot but was soooo yummm.

While, I write this, my mouth waters and feel the taste of this awesome food :)