Later in the morning, I drove a friend of mine to the Sri Lankan store. She had agreed to cook a fish curry for the prayer gathering dinner, if I took her to the Sri Lankan store to buy the fish and a few other items she needed (she doesn't drive). She also asked if I could bring her some curry leaves from my garden, so I picked a big bag of curry leaves to take to her.
Even though I had gone to the Sri Lankan store earlier in the week and bought some items, I decided to buy a few more items on this trip, as well:
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| October 8 Groceries |
1 bottle (750 ml) passion fruit cordial; $3.99
1 container (500 g, 17 oz) jaggery (palm sugar); $3.99
1 package (1kg, 2.2 lb.) lightly polished red rice, labeled "brown rice"; $2.99
1 package (290 g; 10 oz.) frozen cut "drumsticks"; $1.99
1 package (200 g, 7 oz.) dried palm shoots; $2.49
Frozen fish; $20
Total = $35.45
The jaggery and the rice are for another friend of mine.
The jaggery is made by boiling down the sap of the kithul palm. Traditionally, the boiled syup (known as treacle) is poured into empty coconut shell halves to solidify. This gives the resulting jaggery a hemispherical shape. Once solidified, the jaggery is removed from the shells. They used to be sold, two halves wrapped together in dried palm fronds, when I was a child, growing up. These days, they are formed using square or round metal molds, as well, and sold sealed in plastic or in containers. The jaggery in this plastic bottle are pieces of the hemispherical shaped ones.
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| Palm Sugar |
"Drumstick" is a type of vegetable, not the sticks used to play drums. :) It is also known as murunga or moringa. We had a tree in our garden in my childhood home and it was probably my favorite vegetable as a child. The "drumsticks" are the seed pods, which are over a foot long and look a little like a stick. When cooked, it tastes a little like asparagus.
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| Frozen Murunga |
Another favorite snack:
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| Dried Palm Shoots |
This is known as kotta kelangu (or kotta kilangu); palmyra palm shoots that have been cut in half, lengthwise, and dried. The fresh shoots are boiled and eaten, as well. But the dried shoots have always been a favorite snack, although, these days, I have to soak them in some water before I can eat them so I won't break my teeth! :D
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| Dried palm shoots |
After we did our shopping, I drove my friend to her home and she invited me in to have brunch. She had made milkrice, an onion sambol, and fish curry, which I enjoyed. She gave me some to bring home with me for tomorrow's breakfast, too.
It was 95F when I came home after our shopping. Definitely not yet autumn in southern California! But the house was relatively cool and, after I put away the groceries, I took a nap!
Later in the evening, I spoke on the phone with another friend and with an aunt and video chatted with my daughter.
Today, I am grateful for:
- More treats from the Sri Lankan store!
- Cousin's call from Sri Lanka
- Spending some time with a friend and enjoying the brunch she had made
- Chatting on the phone with another friend and my aunt.
- Video chatting with my daughter
Plans for tomorrow include going to the pharmacy to pick up my medication, doing some laundry, and housework.
How was your Saturday? What have you planned for Sunday?
As usual, I love your posts about Sri Lankan shopping and the foods you grew up with!
ReplyDeleteNPR had an article about a book about Sri Lankan Cuisine today! I emailed it to myself and have yet to finish reading the article, but I thought it might interest you.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/10/09/496867198/cookbook-tells-the-story-of-sri-lanka-s-civil-war-through-food
Thank you for the link, Nathalie. The civil war has had such an impact on country. I had already left, so had no first-hand experience, of it. The country I remember was a very different place in some ways.
DeleteMay I ask what "curry leaves" are? I have never heard of them. :)
ReplyDeleteDebbie, it is a type of leaf we use in our cooking, as one would use bay leaves. Here's a post I did about it:
Deletehttp://bless2cents.blogspot.com/2015/09/curry-leaf-tree.html
I was wondering if they were like bay leaves. :) Thank you for the link to the post. :)
DeleteOh! Some new-to-me food! :) I sure have never seen jaggery and drumsticks. I'm not so sure about the palm shoots, because they look so much like bamboo shoots. I guess the big Asian market in town sells both, I just didn't notice the difference. I quite like roaming ethnic food stores, but of course I occasionally remain confused, because sometimes labels in a language I can read are missing, never mind any explanation on what to do with some kind of food I've never seen before.
ReplyDeleteI cannot have the shop owner give me a guided tour for an hour or two, can I?
Jazz
The palm shoots do resemble bamboo shoots, don't they? But the taste and texture are different.
DeleteI haven't cooked the drumsticks yet, but when I do, I'll post pictures.
The friend who went with me bought a packet of fresh winged beans. I can't remember the last time I ate them! Maybe I'll buy some the next time I go there (if they have any for sale).
I know about jaggery of course, but I have never seen it in big lumps like this. I enjoyed your description of getting it in the shape of coconut shells!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it! :)
Delete