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| New Year's Day Breakfast, Compliments of Friend S and Family |
Happy New Year, everyone! May 2021 be filled with good health, joy, and prosperity!
My daughter and I greeted the New Year at midnight, listening to the fireworks going off all around us (they are illegal in my city due to the risk of fire, but, people tend to ignore that!), watching the countdown on TV, and toasting it with glasses of non-alcoholic sparkling apple cider. Then, after wishing each other a happy new year, I boiled milk on the stove until it overflowed (for good luck) and made milk rice and seeni sambol. We had that, wished family and friends on the phone, and went to bed around 2:00 a.m.
This morning, friend S called to wish us for the new year and said her husband and daughter were on their way to deliver breakfast! The platter she sent is pictured above. She sent us two pieces of milk rice (at the top of the platter), with katta sambol (onions and chili mixed together) and ambul thiyal (a type of fish curry, cooked with a dried fruit called goraka, which preserves the fish) in the center; surrounded by various sweets, most of them traditional Sri Lankan sweets that are New Year specialties - clockwise: homemade marshmallows, aluwa, and handi kavum; halapa, mung kavum, and milk toffee; cubes of kalu dodol, konde kavum, kokis, and chocolates! Daughter and I enjoyed them for our brunch!
Afterwards, I joined the Temple's New Year blessing service that was online.
Daughter is going through her dresser drawers and sorting out clothes and accessories. She has set aside a pile of items to donate. I am relaxing. I will post my New Year's Resolutions and goals in a separate post. Tonight's dinner will be leftovers from the fridge.
Today, I am grateful for:
- A brand new year!
- Being able to celebrate the New Year with my daughter
- Online Temple services
- Friends and family
- Friend S providing us with a breakfast of Sri Lankan treats
I wish you all a very happy New Year; may 2021 be a year filled with blessings!
I like the sound of katta sambol ... what sort of things would you usually eat that with please?
ReplyDeleteYour friends are very generous. The plate of food looks so good and I bet you enjoyed it ... a lovely start to the year.
Happy New Year to you both. Let's hope 2021 sees the world gain control over the virus and everyone can start living normal lives again.
Katta sambol can be eaten with just about any flat bread, such as coconut flat bread, chapati, pita, or tortillas, or with cassava or boiled mung beans. I add a little of it to my scrambled eggs when I want extra spice. It can be eaten with milk rice, pittu (also called puttu) which is made from rice flour and coconut and steamed, or with appa (sort of like a pancake made from a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk). It's a versatile condiment. :)
DeleteI do have very generous friends, don't I? I was the recipient of even more generosity later in the evening, when neighbor S brought over more food!
I am very hopeful that we will gain control over Covid in 2021 and life will be a little less fraught! All the best in the new year, Eileen.
Happy New Year! Sounds like a wonderful start to the year and lovely surprise for breakfast!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too, Sharon. Yes, it was a lovely start to the New Year and we enjoyed our breakfast! :)
DeleteIt sounds like you had a prefect New Year's Eve and New Year's Day! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful New Year's Eve and Day, Martha. Hope yours was as good if not better. :)
DeleteHappy new year to you! Celie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie; Happy New Year to you, too. :)
DeleteThat gifted breakfast looks really exciting! I love to see different foods and candies.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you were able to welcome the new year in with your daughter. I hope that this is a sign of good things ahead for both of you!
I went for a walk up the road and encountered 3 different couples who happened to be out at the same time and 7 of us and one little hairy dachshund, stood in the road together and chatted socially distanced. Another neighbour came by in a truck and stopped to chat. A few more and we would have had an illegal party!
It was a really delicious breakfast, Bushlady, and such a thoughtful gift, too.
DeleteI'm loving the fact that I could see the New Year in with my daughter. I hope this year turns out to be one of the best!
I'm glad you were able to meet and greet your friends and neighbors! Too funny about it being an almost illegal party! :D
Wow! Did S make all those sweets? My mouth is watering. LOL
ReplyDeleteI too made milk rice and seeni sambal. I had a lot, so I ate the same for lunch as well. 😁 I wish I had some ambulthiyal.
I was not very good at achieving last 6 months goals, so I didn’t bother making a list for this year. Perhaps I should, in case it motivates me ... I really need to have a regular exercise routine and drink more water.
Have a relaxing weekend, Bless.
I think S had one of her friends (N) make most of the sweets; N makes all the sweets and string hoppers, etc. for orders. My friend R has been ordering some food from her and I am planning to order some string hoppers from her, myself.
DeleteI think we all found it hard to work on our goals this year, Nil. I basically have the same goals from year to year and work on them. It's a continuous journey, for me.
I hope you are able to take it easy this weekend - do classes start next week? My daughter starts work on Monday.
More delicious food from your neighbors. And it looks delicious too.
ReplyDeleteIs that the same sambol you make for your milk rice.
I always imagined the rice being more liquidy but the picture looks more firm.
Katta sambol is a little different to the seeni sambol I make for my milk rice. In katta sambol, raw onions are ground together with a type of dried fish flakes (we call it Maldive fish), chili flakes, salt, and lime juice; for seeni sambol, on the other hand, the onions are sauteed in oil and chili powder, spices, and sugar are added. Then, there is another type of chili paste called "lunu miris" which is also a mixture of ground raw onions, chili powder, Maldive fish, salt, and lime juice , but, it is a wetter mixture! The addition of Maldive fish to any of the sambols is optional - one can make a vegetarian version without it.
DeleteMilk rice
Oops! Hit published before I finished typing! Milk rice sets up so one can cut it into pieces that hold their shape. I tend to make mine a little more liquid-y, by adding more milk.
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