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| Milk Rice |
Today, I celebrated the Sri Lankan New Year, albeit a day later, by making kiri bath or milk rice for brunch. The brass lamp is a traditional lamp; the upper tiers would have been filled with coconut oil into which wicks made with strips of white cotton fabric would be inserted and lit. A traditional New Year's breakfast table would have included several other dishes such as bananas and oil cakes, but the milk rice was all I could manage, today. I made an offering of a serving of the milk rice, the flowers and the lit incense stick at the altar before I had my breakfast. I ate the milk rice with some leftover chicken curry and a spicy onion relish known as seeni sambol; I could have had it with a piece of jaggery, too, which is a type of palm sugar. Later, I had a cucumber salad and an orange I picked this morning. Dinner was one of the curry puffs.
I also took a portion of the milk rice and the onion sambol over to cousin P. On the way back, I noticed something in my front garden:
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| Not the best picture, I know |
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| So well camouflaged! |
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| A young Mourning Dove |
And then, I followed it around the garden for a bit:
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| More visible |
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| A little less visible |
I scattered a handful of birdseed and left it to eat in peace.
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| Don't let the cats find you, little mourning dove |
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| Pomegranate Flower |
It was a sunny, warm day. But I developed a dull headache which stayed with me all afternoon into evening. `I resisted taking anything for it, but, finally, around 4:30 p.m., after I had a cup of tea, I took two Tylenols and then, napped on the sofa. The sound of the neighbors' generator starting up around 7:00 p.m. woke me up. I closed the window and turned on the lights. Friend R called a little after that and we chatted for a little bit. The headache is gone; I think the nap helped as much as the Tylenol!
I had a fairly relaxed day, due in part to the headache. But, my daughter went grocery shopping at the dollar store:
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| Daughter's Weekly Grocery Haul |
She bought:
10 lb. bag of russet potatoes ($1.99)
2 lb. bag of mandarins ($1.99)
3 lb. bag of apples ($1.99)
4 bananas (a little over 1 lb.) @ $.49/lb
2 lb. bag carrots ($1)
1 package turkey breast cold cuts ($1)
2 cans sardines in tomato sauce @ $1 (for sardines on toast)
2 bags lentil bean tomato basil crisps @ $1
1 packet toasted coconut sweet and salty granola bars (6 count; $1)
1 packet freeze dried apple crisps ($1)
1 cucumber ($.50),
1 1/2 lb. package zucchini ($1)
1 lb. bag radishes ($1)
1 head cauliflower ($1)
6 beets @ 3/$1
She spent a total of $20.35 for groceries.
Then, she went to the Indian store to buy rice (10 lb. bag brown basmati rice for $13) and a jar of seeni sambol, the spicy onion relish I had with my milk rice ($5.99). The rice will last her a long time, but I don't know how long the sambol will last because she likes to eat it as a snack!
Today, I am grateful for:
- A warm sunny day
- Milk rice for brunch
- Flowers and oranges from the garden
- Baby birds
- A nap on the sofa
How was your Saturday?
Oh, do you get fresh pomegranate as well? My garden isn't big enough for any fruit trees but I may try out some dwarf patio fruiters next year, apple, plum and cherry, if I can find space to put them.
ReplyDeleteI think I've tasted seeni sambol before - spicy hot with an underlying sweetness to it - does that sound right? It was served with a chicken dish.
Eileen, yes, seeni sambol is spicy and sweet (seeni means sugar).
DeleteYes, I get fresh pomegranates, as well. :) I have 3 lemon trees, the orange tree, the pomegranate tree, 3 feijoa or pineapple guava trees, a calamondin tree (a type of citrus), and a cherry guava tree which almost died but is regrowing. I had a peach tree which died due to the drought. I planted a grape vine, this year; hoping it will grow. I hope you will be able to find the space to plant some fruit trees, too.
Homegrown pomegranate! Mmm
ReplyDeleteI didn't make kiribath. Didnt do anything special to celebrate the New Year.
I'm glad your headache is gone. When I have a headache I use warm towels around my neck and forehead. I've heard that most headaches are due to either narrowing or widening of blood vessels. If it's the latter, cold towels usually works.
Maybe you'll make some next year, Nil. Sometimes, it is hard to observe these rituals when we are alone and not feeling quite up to it. I think my headache was due to a lack of sleep - I have been averaging 5 hours of sleep per night and last week was a bit stressful, so it all took a toll on me. The nap helped. But, I'll remember the warm/cold towels tip; thank you. :)
DeleteI'm glad you were able to take a nap and that your headache went away! Is the generator something the neighbors run a lot? Did you lose power that they had to run it? I felt bad for the neighbors who hadn't lost power or regained theirs before we did ours, after Hurricane Irma, since ours was running 24/7 and the sound travels far in our little town. But not bad enough to forego running it, lol.
ReplyDeleteYou had a dove in your yard! At first, I thought it was a squirrel, even though your title clearly refers to a dove, but I thought you were referring to the dove on the oil lamp! Now that I've clicked on the picture to see a larger version of it, I see it's not a dove on the oil lamp but maybe a rooster. LOL.
My neighbors lost their power after the fire, last year. I am assuming they have to rewire at least part of the house before they get their power back. So, the generator is run every evening until around 11:30 p.m. when they go to sleep. When the construction crew is working, the generator runs practically all day. I don't know why they don't run it during the day on other days - one would think they'd need to if they have a fridge, etc.
DeleteYes, the bird in the garden was a dove; the bird on the lamp is a rooster. All the oil lamps I've seen have a rooster on the top - I am not quite sure what the connection is, but maybe it is a good luck symbol, as it heralds the new day with its crowing?
I've never seen a pomegranate tree before. It has very bright, pretty blossoms. It sounds like milk rice is not what I think it is. Growing up, rice was never a side dish. We ate it only as a cereal with milk and sugar. As an adult, I learned that most of the rest of the world uses it as a staple starch. Potatoes and pasta were our starchy side dishes that we had at most meals.
ReplyDeleteP is for Pomegranate! :D The tree I have was a gift from the monks at the temple when I bought my house; it is planted in the front, near the entrance, for good luck!
DeleteMilk rice is a little like rice pudding, but it is not sweet. Basically, it is rice cooked in a mixture of water and coconut milk, until it is creamy but firm enough to hold its shape. It maybe eaten with curries or sugar.
The pomegranate blossoms are gorgeous. Are they scented like the orange blossoms? They are a gorgeous colour.
ReplyDeleteGlad your headache finally dissipated. When I get a headache, (which is fortunately very rare) it signals that I am not well. Do you think you are coming down with something, or do you think it was brought on by heat or exhaustion?
They are pretty flowers. As far as I can tell, they aren't scented.
DeleteI think my headache was more due to a sustained lack of sleep (been getting about 5 hrs. each night, last week) and the stress of moving to the new office, combined with perhaps dehydration, than anything else. There was some sinus pressure and the roots of my hair on my scalp hurt!
Enjoyed seeing your new office photos and surrounding area.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that you suffered with a headache but glad you felt better after a cup of tea, Tylenol and nap. Fun seeing how your daughter shops for groceries. I had no idea that pomegranates grew on trees and such beautiful flowers.
We spent a very quiet Saturday in part because we were both rather tired from working outside in the garden most of Friday and it rained on and off for a large part of the day. A cold front came thru and it is windy and a possible light frost tonight so hubby said we will need to cover the tomato plants and some of the new plantings. Yes we are getting rather long in the tooth!
Sandy, I hope the little tomato plants will not be damaged by the cold front! Gardening is hard work, isn't it? I pulled a few weeds one week and I was sore the next day!
DeleteYour daughter had good buys! That is an amazing amount of food for that price and very healthy too. I love doves! They are shy. I love their cooing! Andrea
ReplyDeleteShe did well, didn't she? I didn't see the dove, today, when I went outside. There was still some bird seed left, so there's food for it, if it returns.
DeleteI love the mourning doves because their call always reminds me of the similar collared doves that I used to hear in England when visiting my parents. They are both such pretty birds.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed at the beautiful flower from the pomegranate tree. I had never thought about the kind of flower they might have. Now I'm thinking I should look up the flowers of other tropical fruit plants!
Well, the weather is quite appalling for mid April! We now have freezing rain and it seems we may have to cancel my appointment tomorrow, a 2 1/2 hour drive away, and the weather is just as bad anyway where we are supposed to be going! I guess we will stay home and feed the birds and squirrels instead.
The pomegranate flower reminds me of a frilly skirt on a dress!
DeleteSo sorry to hear that the weather is so bad that you might need to cancel your appointment! But, better be safe than drive in less than ideal conditions. Hope you'll be able to reschedule it. Now you have me humming the song from Mary Poppins - "feed the birds, tuppence a bag". :)
Love the pomegranate flower never seen one before. I wonder if I can grow one her must look out for one. I love them. I brought kafir lime tree so couple of weeks ago. Haven't planted it yet. Your daughter did extremely well with her shop. Green with envy at the prices.
ReplyDeleteLast week's shop I bought Mandarins 1 kilo (2lbs) for $6. A cauliflower for $4.60! Our prices are ridiculous. Wow a dove, how special. Do they eat the fruit from your trees?
Happy New Year, I love milk rice except we call it coconut rice, I am Very lazy, I buy Tilde coconut, lime and chilli rice in packets, I should really make it myself, maybe if I get a rice cooker!
Sharon, you might be able to grow pomegranates there. I don't know for sure, though.
DeleteProduce prices here vary from store to store. One store is advertising mandarins, 3 lb. bag for $2.77 with the store loyalty card, this week; another store is advertising them for $3.99/3 lb. bag.
Packets of flavored rice come in handy, although I haven't seen those particular ones, here! By the way, I cook my milk rice in a regular pan, on the stove top. It's very easy - just boil the rice as usual, then add the coconut milk and cook a little longer! My daughter, however, cooks it in the rice cooker and she adds the coconut milk at the beginning, along with the water.
Thank you Bless, I am craving some milky rice, all I am up to cooking, I have some coconut milk that needs using up. Although I fancy it with maple syrup drizzled over the rice.
ReplyDeleteIt would be quite lovely with maple syrup, Sharon. Enjoy it!
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