wherever I go, I find something I love to eat

Happy 1st anniversary of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka! It's a national holiday today. It actually ended in May last yr, but the celebration was postponed until June due to heavy rain/flood happended last month.

So...The food in Sri Lanka is simple (meaning I can tell what's in it. Not overly processed) and delicious. Fruits here are like candies to me. I've been eating papayas everyday as they are much sweater than the ones I can find in Seattle. Cheaper too, of course.
I was just making a quick stop at my hostel after the morning tea break, and the matron of the hostel stopped me to have a jak fruit with her. It is apparently the jak fruit season (they produce fruits mostly from May to Sept) It's a big fruit with hard skin which you crack open to get the sweet meat inside (you can see the guy opening a jak fruit in the pic above). We have the tree on the premises of the Sarvodaya headquarter, so this is as fresh as it can get. It's often used for curry too, but the one we had today was sweet enough to eat as dessert. Jak fruit is supposed to be good for bowel movement, digestion, and diabetes. The tree bark is used for fractures and sprains too.

My favorite thing to eat here so far is buffalo curd with kethul treacle. The curd is really rich because water buffalo milk is fattier than the regular milk. Probably not good for my arteries, but I can care less...Kethul is a palm tree (see the pic of it) that produces large clusters of hanging flowers. The sap is collected from the flowers and boiled down to make the treacle. It tastes like maple syrup only that it's better, and it goes so well with the curd. I've been thinking about making french toasts to eat with the treacle. It will be heavenly.
I also drink coconut water pretty much everyday. Lots of stores have a pile of king coconuts (tambili)up front, and they cut the coconut open as I order it. It's supposed to keep the body cool and boost the immune system, and I'm convinced that this will keep me healthy during my stay. It's just so refreshing after walking around under the burning sri Lankan sun and being saffocated by nasty polluted air..
Oh I also love egg hoppers too. I will write about it later...