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Local food a year-round celebration - Dr. Publis :

Avurudu favours Lankan flavours

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

The call of the Koha, the sight of Erabadu blossoms and the beats of the Rabana, remind one that the Avurudu season is here again. It is a time for harmony, love and giving and most of all it is a time when you can treat your family and friends to a variety of scrumptious dishes.

He is one who spearheads a movement in bringing the oriental cuisine to the global dining scene. His mission is to resurrect the age old cooking techniques for as he puts it, he is driven by the passion to gain recognition and acceptance for the art of quality Sri Lankan cooking.

“There is no doubt that Sri Lanka possesses the best cooking techniques in the world. It is a proven fact because our traditional dishes do not include any artificial colours, flavours, animal fat or animal milk. Though we add certain ingredients to dishes, we are not aware of the reasons why we include them in the dishes.

We do it as a habit and most do not realize that sauces, artificial colours and flavours are not essential for our dishes. Cooking is an art and there is even a certain manner for cutting vegetables and meat for certain dishes,” Culinary Affairs and Promotions Director at the Mount Lavinia Hotel Dr. T. Publis Silva observes.

Dr. Publis’ ascent to the top was no cakewalk. He started off as a coal supplier for the hotel before climbing each rung of the ladder. The determined young, eager to learn Publis had witnessed and absorbed the tips and hints which fell on his ears at his work place.

The bitter lessons which life taught him moulded his character and sharpened his resolution to aim and achieve the target he set for himself.

“There was nobody to teach you voluntarily. You would be constantly bullied and scolded if you make a mistake. You can only get to the top through hard work, self effort and dedication. I do not sell my knowledge for a price. I wish to teach and train those eager to learn the art,” he says.

One of the ambitions in his life is to introduce a book based on the art of cookery. He says that it will be the first in the world for there had only been books based on recipes. The book is a must have handbook of cooking.

“We have to learn to cook without destroying the nutritional value. We should pay attention to the health side of what we cook and eat. This will also be a chapter in the book for it is a chef’s duty to preserve or improve the nutritional value of the dish before presenting it to the guest(s),” he adds.

More than 360 natural ingredients: leaves, shoots, bark, belly (edible part of the tree trunk), rood, pods and flowers are used in Sri Lankan cuisine as most of these ingredients have Ayurvedic value. They are mixed into dishes for a purpose.

”For example we include spinach in breadfruit curries because the dish is heaty. Likewise Murunga leaves are part of prawn, crab and cuttlefish dishes for the same reason. Most housewives include these ingredients to their recipes without knowing their medicinal value.

Our traditional medicine goes hand in hand with the food that we consume, a method that is a feature in Asian cooking alone,” he notes.

Having set a Guinness Record with the hotel for levelling the largest milk rice dish in the world five years back, his next challenge is to make the largest Aggala , Kavum, Munguli or paper dosai in the world.

He hopes to compile a book based on the food of the six main communities in the country: the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burger, Malay and Aborigines (Vanniyela Aththo).

“The Thosais, Idlis, Ulundu wadai and Sambar are very much a part of our culture today. If we are taking strides to live in harmony we should accept and take up the customs of the other ethnic groups. Our reluctance to blend with the other communities is the result of the conflict that we suffer from today,” he says adding that the Avurudu is the ideal period for cultural amity.

“The Avurudu season is hectic at the hotel but it was a season which I looked forward to and enjoyed a lot during my school days. At my hometown, Rathgama, there was the tradition of bathing, dressing your children in new clothes and giving them money on April 12/13. The whole family would visit the homes of relatives and friends to celebrate the season. A feast will be prepared for visitors and they will be gifted with money as well,” he recalls.

“The Avurudu traditions should prevail in every house because this is the time when people set aside their problems and reserve a few days for pleasure. All members of the family come together during this time of the year. This is a feature which is unique to the country. Western countries celebrate Christmas which has similar features but the atmosphere and traditions of the celebrations differ.”

According to the renowned chef, it is fitting to add a goraka curry to our daily menu for three months after the Avurudu season as goraka embodies the ability to decrease the harmful side effects of consuming too much sweet and oily food. Garlic, black pepper, bitter gourd, tender leaves of cashew and Ranavara flowers too possess this medicinal quality of cutting down of access fat from the system.

“I believe that there is no need to limit the Avurudu season for a few days. What happens ultimately is that people enjoy a few dates limited to the celebrations while indulging in epicurean food habits and end up with a lot of health and other problems. It should be Avurudu all year round because Avurudu symbolizes joy, togetherness and compromise,” he concluded.

Traditional Milk Rice

Ingredients:

Red rice

Treacle

Jaggery

Butter or gee

Cashew

Dried plums

Salt

Coconut milk

Method: Put the rice with the second extraction of the coconut milk in a pan on the stove and add the cashew. Meanwhile, mix the first extraction of the coconut milk with salt and put it aside. After the rice is cooked, add the first extraction of coconut milk and stir. Add the dried plums, butter or ghee and the jaggery. Mix well. After taking the pan off the stove add some treacle.

If you wish to make the Muruthange Batha or the Pongal rice simply include some green gram while cooking the rice.

Prawn Istharam

Ingredients:

200g Onions finely chopped

100g Maldives fish chopped

Chilie pieces two tablespoons

Tomatoes / One teaspoon garlic

1/2 teaspoon ginger

One tablespoon curry leaves finely chopped

Two cardamom seeds

Two cloves / Two cinnamon sticks

1/2 Rampe stick

One tablespoon sugar

One and half teaspoons salt / One cup oil

Method: Add oil onto a pan and place it on the stove. Fry the onion, rampe, curry leaves, Cardamom, clove and cinnamon until golden brown. Add Maldive fish, chilie pieces, sugar and salt and fry till you get the aroma. You can store this mixture in a bottle. Clean the prawns leaving their tail. Chop the tomatoes. Put a pan on the stove and add the prawns with lemon, salt and turmeric. When both sides are heated through add the bottled mixture and the tomatoes. Do not cook for more than two minutes otherwise the prawns will become hard. You can substitute the prawns with cuttlefish or fish. Thalapath is more suitable but sprinkle a little flour along with the lemon, salt and turmeric before heating.

Kon Pittu

Ingredients:

Rice (Cooked)

Tender Kohila shoot cut

Carrots

Leeks

Green peas

Cashew

Onion

Ripe Capsicum

Beans

Method: Cut the kohila into the size of chick peas and cook a dry kohila curry. Cook the rice. Set the stove on a place near the dining table. Cut the vegetables into cubes of the same size. Place a pan on the stove and add some butter and the carrot cubes along with some salt. Cook until the carrots are tender and mix in the rest of the vegetables. Add the kohila curry and mix well. Add the cooked rice and mix with a spoon like making kotthu roti. Take two clean coconut shells and fill one with the mixture. Take a plate and place the shell on it facing downwards and knock it with the other coconut shell until it is unmoulded. Serve hot.

Goraka curry

Ingredients:

200g ripe goraka

30g red onions

1/2 teaspoon tempered fenugreek

One teaspoon garlic / Two green chilies

Cinnamon / Rampe

One tablespoon curry leaves finely chopped

½ teaspoon turmeric

One and a half teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon chilie powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

One and a half teaspoons of Maldive fish

½ cup of the first extraction from the coconut milk

Method: Take the goraka without the fleshy part. Heat some water added with turmeric and salt and once it is boiled add to the goraka. Cover and leave for 30 minutes. Drain. Leaving aside the coconut milk mix the rest of the ingredients together. After the mixture is dry add the milk. Pour the goraka into the mixture and cook it till it is dry and resembles a thick tomato curry.

Kevum pudding

Ingredients:

Five kevums cut into five

inch pieces

1/2 liter milk

One cup treacle or

100g jaggery

Five eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

50g sultana

50g cashew

Method: Break the eggs into a bowl. Add the sugar and milk and mix till the ingredients are dissolved. Take another bowl and put the pieces of kevum in the bottom. Pour the mixture on top and add the cashew and sultana to the top. Take a tray and put some water on it. Place the bowl with the mixture on top of the water and put it in the oven. Bake at 200 degrees C for 15 to 20 minutes.

Tamarind

Take the editable part out of tamarinds and boil. Once bubbles begin to form turn down the flames. Take out the foam which gather at the top of the mixture until you have a thick, brown juice. Add salt and keep in the refrigerator. Add boiled sugar to the mixture with an ice cube and serve.

Veralu

Wash the veralu and take the editable parts. Put lime, sugar and lukewarm water in a blender and blend till you get a thick green liquid.

Rearrange for a change

Tips to make your home more comfortable:

When the festive time is round the corner every one’s attention goes back to the homefront. To wear a fresh outlook why not try some tricks to prepare your house to welcome the guests in this Avurudu season without spending on new decor and furniture?

Here’s a trick that might help you save some money when you are just plain tired of your décor and feel you just have to have something new.

Rearrange your furniture. It will take some thought, and muscle, and your spouse may complain, but it is really worth the trouble as you will see your guests will be thrown into a total surprise as they step in this time!

When you change the way your furniture is placed (and the accessories), it all seems different and new. You notice different things. Your eye goes to items you have taken for granted and they are once again appreciated. It can be very refreshing.

Another plus is that if you have carpet, you should be moving your furniture every six months so that you distribute the wear and tear on your carpet from the weight of the furniture.

When the way furniture placed is changed it all seems different and new

Whether you are trying to save money or improve your home, a good furniture arrangement can also dramatically alter the appearance and comfort of a room. Here are some things to consider before you start pushing the sofa around.

l Plan out the traffic pattern in the room. You don’t want to have to walk in front of someone watching the television to get from the living room to the kitchen.

l Pick a spot in the room that will be your center of interest. This is the focal point of the room, and you will begin by placing furniture and accessories around it.

l Begin by placing your large pieces of furniture. Do not make your room lopsided by placing all the large objects on one side. If you only have one large item, you can place several small ones together on the other side of the room to balance it.

l Don’t be afraid to place objects on the diagonal, or at right angles to the wall with space behind them.

l Be practical. If you left the interior decoration of your room to a professional, your television would swiftly be removed from the room. Either that, or you would be forced to watch it sitting on the sofa with your head turned at a 90 degree angle. Make your room comfortable for your family.

l Use all the resources you have to accessorize and individualize your home. Similar items grouped together make collections that look larger, more interesting, and more important.

l Large pictures are expensive. When you don’t have any large enough to balance the wall behind your sofa, use groupings of items that look well together.

l Don’t overlook creative collections of your children’s artwork, and other meaningful objects from their young years. Family activities, like vacations, can also be showcased. Cusions made from past clothing can be displayed. Anything handcrafted is wonderful.

l Make your bookcases more decorative than utilitarian. Avoid the library look.

Stack books in groups both standing up and laying down. Add decorative elements between the stacks of books to soften the look. Plants are great, as well as anything black, or a shiny metallic colour. Courtesy:Allthingsfrugal.com

 High-light

Eye shadow

Depending on the hues you wish to use, you can get a little colorful and creative with the wide selection of products for eyelids on the market. No longer you have to sift through dozens of shades of eye shadow powder looking for the perfect blend.

Now you can accessorize your eyes with a beautiful array of powders , creams and glittery dustings. Traditional eye shadow powders are very easy to use with small applicator brushes and foam pads. For a dimensional look, blend two colours of powder or one colour of powder atop a cream shadow base.

Mascara and eyeliner

When selecting mascara, many factors come into play, with each brand’s newest addition to the line claiming bigger and better benefits. From thickening to lengthening to blackest black, waterproof and curling, each mascara product has a special offering of its own. Considering your own lashes, choose one that best suits your needs. Be careful how much eyeliner you apply, as a little really does go a long way. For a dramatic look, thicker and darker is very acceptable. For a subtle definition, stick with a lighter application.