Sri Lankan Veggie Feast

One day in Sri Lanka while staying in the Sigiriya area, we went on an organized village tour. After floating along a lily-covered lake, we arrived at a small farm where a local woman showed us how to prepare rice for use as a grain or as flour.

She also served us a tasty snack of coconut sambol eaten with piping hot roti. To drink, we received some type of rather sour herbal tea served in a coconut shell, which we were meant to chase with a bite of sugar.

Upon finishing our snacks, the village tour continued with a bumpy ride in a bullock cart. Finally, we watched a demonstration of cooking traditional Sri Lankan pumpkin curry and then feasted on a delicious vegetarian spread.

In addition to pumpkin curry, there were other curries of yellow lentils, cucumber and green beans. My most favorite, however, was definitely the curry made with young "baby" jackfruit. It was not at all fruity, and the jackfruit had a surprisingly meaty consistency. Stay tuned for more, as I definitely want to try to make this myself!