X’mas in Bandarawela

Christmas day of 2013 is about to begin. It marks a happy time for both Christians and others alike. Irrespective of our religious views and beliefs we love this time of the year for the joy and happiness that it brings for everybody.

I spent my most memorable Christmas holiday in Bandarawela. My good friend Charles invited me and two other batch mates to spend Christmas season of 1979 with his family. They had a townhouse in the middle of Bandarawela town.

Bandarawela at that time was a typical up-country town in Sri Lanka that served many communities nestled in between vast tea estates. It was also famous as a holiday destination due to its mild climate, beautiful scenery and British colonial ambience. It had a charming blend of English cottage style architecture and vernacular architecture of the estate region. Beautiful flowers and trees that grow only in temperate climates, and the thin veil of mist and light drizzles made it a very picturesque place. Therefore, we were thrilled to receive Charles’ invitation to spend our Christmas holiday in Bandarawela.

  

Bandarawela can be reached by road or by railway. Although road travel is only 200km from Colombo, travel by railway is the most interesting. The railway track passes through some of the most scenic areas of Sri Lanka. If you travel along the Colombo-Badulla Road the first landmark you see is the Bandarawela Railway station at the beginning of the town. Just ahead on the left side corner, you can see the famous old building of Cargills Shop. Established in Colombo in 1844 during the British colonial rule, Cargills is the first department store in Sri Lanka. Perhaps its branch in Bandarawela was one of the few Cargills shops located outside Colombo at that time. Hence it was surely a land mark in the city.

The other notable buildings of any architectural value are Bandarawela Hotel, Bandarawela Church, Dutch house, and the National Holiday Resort. They cannot be compared with an architectural masterpiece located on a small hill above the town. It is a small chapel designed by Architects Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner in 1961 for the nuns of the Good Shepherd Convent. “It consists of a solid hulk of rubble masonry terminating in a square tower which acts as the skylight for the altar. The north side of the nave is fully glazed, its window frames forming the three crucifixes of the Calvary” (www.geofreybawa.com). It is a hidden gem that many visitors to the town are not aware of. I think it is deliberately kept low-profile so that too many visitors will not come and disturb its tranquil environment. The more public place of worship for Catholics is the St. Anthony’s church located in the center of the town. It is not a very impressive edifice of architecture.

Bandarawela Hotel

Bandarawela Church

Dutch House

Chapel at Good Shepherd Convent (by Archt. Bawa & Plesner)

Charles invited us to join the mid-night mass held at the St Anthony’s church on Christmas Eve. We went there few minutes before midnight in shivering cold. I could witness the conduct of a Catholic mass for the first time. The singing of famous Christmas songs and organ music enchanted me. At the end of the mass most elders walked towards the head priest who conducted the mass to receive his blessings. The priest was putting coin sized white thing in the mouths of everyone who kneeled in front of him. When I tried to follow Charles he stopped me saying “උඹට ඒක ලබන්න අවසර නැහැ’ (You are not supposed to receive it). So I could not taste it.

But on the Christmas day I could taste a sumptuous Chinese lunch at his house. Charles’ family is of Chinese dissent. Charles is the one who introduced me to Chinese cuisine as well. He accompanied me to the famous Lyon Café in Kandy several times. It was run by his maternal uncle. He always ordered the ‘Lyon Special’ which is stir fried (chow mein) egg noodle topped with a mixture of several meats and vegetables. It was a hearty meal at that time but on a later occasion many years later, I suffered from indigestion after having a ‘special’.

Charles’ elder sister, Susan is a good cook. She prepared baked whole fish in Chinese style for the Christmas lunch. It was something new for me. Later in life I have tried to bake whole fish following Chinese, Thai and South Indian recipes. I think baking fish is one of the healthiest ways of cooking fish.    

 

 

My attempt to bake whole fish in Chinese style

Ingredients

2 medium size whole red snapper or silver pomfret

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

3 cm-piece of fresh ginger finely chopped

2 tbsp. each fish sauce and oyster sauce

2 tbs rice wine

2 tsp. sesame oil

4 sprigs of spring onion finely sliced lengthwise

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Few slices of lemon

Preparation

Scale and gut the fish. Make a deep parallel cut to the center.

Wash the fish under running water.

Pat dry with paper towel inside and outside.

Make 2-3 diagonal cuts on both sides of the skins. Do not cut deep.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C

Line a baking dish with some butter a flour.  

Mix chopped garlic, ginger, fish sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine and sesame oil and make a mixture. If the mixture is too little, add little water or stock.

Apply little bit of sauce mixture on the foil and place the fish on it. Insert few slices of lemon in the cavity of the fish. Pour the rest of the mixture over fish. 

Bake for 30 minutes and check if a fork insert on fish come off clean. If not continue to bake for 5-10 minutes.

 

Take off from the oven and garnish with chopped spring onion, cilantro and slices of lemon.

Eat an Aggala and Climb My Son (අග්ගලා කන් ඩෝන් පුතා, හෙලේ නගින් ඩෝන් පුතා) Part II

The summit of the mountain is an amazing sight from near and far. According to chronicles the first trail to climb Sri Paada was established during the reign of King Vijayabahu" (1065-1119 AD). The first constructions at the summit have taken place during King Nissankamalla (1198-1206 AD). Since then the architecture at the summit has transformed from a simple shelter to a Kandyan style temple. Perhaps the present form of its architecture has come due to the difficulties of maintaining a building with a Kandyan style roof in a place that experience strong winds and rains.

The area surrounding the mountain is declared as “Peak Wilderness Sanctuary”. That means constructions within the reserve are highly regulated and controlled. That kind of protection is essential for the sustainability of the mountain eco-system of Sri Paada range. However, there was a proposal to construct a cable car system to make the pilgrimage easier. Perhaps the VIPs who do not want to experience the difficulty of climbing the mountain for hours or those who want to take advantage to make quick money are the proponents of this hideous idea. With that all kinds of commercial enterprises will follow. Perhaps the day we see hamburger and pizza franchises on the trails is not very far.

Garbage left by pilgrims has become the biggest environmental problem in recent times. People bring all sorts of processed food and leave the packages on the mountain. Although there are some small shops along the trails that sell food items, it is not easy to find a warm and tasty meal due to the cold temperature at the higher elevations. The rotis and breads sold in these shops look like frozen food and not appealing at all. However, it is possible to find a steaming cup of tea or coffee or herbal drink from those shops. The prices are also higher as you climb higher and higher. It is understandable because everything has to be hand carried to these shops.

In good old days people used to carry the necessary food with them in individual packages. Everyone except small children carried a shoulder bag called ‘sahalluwa (සැහැල්ලුව) which literally meant light carry bag. It contained a pack of cooked food, few snacks like ginger toffee (ඉඟුරු දෝසි) and biscuits, and a piece of warm cloth. There was also a piece of copra or a candle to light at the summit. More weight you carry, more difficult it is to climb. Therefore sahalluwa was a very logical idea. Nowadays, there are lighter back packs that make the climb even easier.

When my father used to lead groups of pilgrims we always left home before the dawn. Each member carried packs of home cooked breakfast and lunch. The banana leave used to pack food make them even more delicious. We consumed those foods at scenic spots on the route like Kithulgala. The Kelani river at Kitulgala became famous as the set of World War II movie “Bridge on the River Kwai” by David Lean. It has won 7 Oscars, 3 BAFTAs and 3 Golden Globes in 1958. In fact the original site of this bridge is in Kanchanaburi, Thailand but the movie was filmed in Kithulgala, Sri Lanka. Some remnants of the set are still at the movie set. I have been to the original site of the bridge in Thailand many times with my friend Suparb who introduced me the exotic tastes of many Thai dishes.

After arriving at a base like Nallathanniya on Hatton route or Palabadgala on Rathnapura route, we rested for a while, dipped in the cool waters of a stream and cooked the dinner. Pots and pans for cooking could be rented from one of the few shops around. The dinner was also packed liked the breakfast and lunch and carried in the sahalluwa. The climb began around sunset. It is the best time to climb because of the cooler ambience. Until dinner is partaken at a spot on the trail, we had sweetmeats like inguru dosi and aggala to get some extra energy and keep warm. It is believed that loads of ginger in inguru dosi and pepper in aggala help to combat coldness. Aggala is the special food so much associated with the pilgrimage to Sri Paada. Some climbers sing in duet style… “අග්ගලා කන් …. ඩෝන් පුතා, හෙලේ නගින් …. ඩෝන් පුතා (Eat an Aggala and Climb My Son) to cheer up small children. Therefore, this piece is not complete without a description of aggala and a tale associated with it.

Aggala is somewhat similar to laddu in India. Unlike Laddu which comes in several tastes and colors, aggala has a unique taste and color. Besides that I do not think laddu contains generous amounts of pepper as in aggala. 

Making Aggala

You need palm treacle and roasted rice flour in 1:2 proportion. You also need salt and pepper according to your taste.  Broken pieces of raw cashew can be added for extra flavor. Keep some extra amount of roasted rice flour to coat aggala when formed in to balls.

In a round bottom pan boil the treacle over medium heat until thickened. If treacle is not available, you can boil sugar with some water until it becomes a slightly caramelized liquid. But do not let it become bitter by complete caramelizing. Remove pan from fire and add the roasted rice flour, salt and pepper (and cashew). Thoroughly mix the ingredients. The mixture should be malleable, not too soft, not too hard. 

When the temperature of the mixture has reduced enough to handle, form about 20-25Cm diameter balls. Press the balls with your palm and fingers to make them firm. Finally coat the balls with the reserved roasted rice flour.

Extra dash of freshly ground pepper is usually added to aggala for the pilgrimage to Sri Paada. That extra dash gave a hot kick to cheeks and ears to counteract with coldness. I think people selected to carry aggala for the journey because it is easy to carry. It also has load of sugar to give energy required for the climb.

Once a neighbor brought some aggala for the journey and distributed them among the group (called nade). But they were teeth breaking hard. I hit my aggala hard on a stone to break it into pieces. Seeing my action mother stopped me saying that it will hurt the feelings of that lady.

Therefore, the lessons for those who plan to make aggala are, (1) do not over boil treacle until it become like a toffee mixture, and (2) make them lightly with a compassionate feeling.  

Eat an aggala and climb the cliff my Son (අග්ගල කන් ඩෝන් පුතා, හෙලේ නගින් ඩෝන් පුතා) – Part I

Sri Paada season for 2013/14 started few days ago. About 100,000 devotees have climbed Sri Paada Mountain on the first day itself. Sri Paada means ‘sacred foot print’. It is at the summit of a mountain located in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. It is sacred for Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims alike. So it is a place for religious harmony. Buddhists believe that the Lord Buddha set his foot print at the summit. The Hindus believe that the foot print is God Shiva’s. In Christian and Islamic belief it is of Adam’s and therefore the mountain is called Adma’s Peak in English.

There are many sacred and magnificent mountains in the world. Mount Everest is at the top of the world. Mount Sinai has witnessed Ten Commandments. Mount Fuji and Mount Kilimanjaro are more imposing. Mount Kailash and Mount Agung are more mysterious. But no other mountain has been considered holy by such a variety of faiths like Sri Pada. 

     

Sri Paada Mountain is 2245 m high from the MSL. It has the characteristic conical shape of a volcano but I do not know whether it is of volcanic origin. It can be easily recognized even from a far distance because of its location in the center of a mountain range and its distinctive conical shape. We can see it from our home town on a day with a clear blue sky although we are about 60km away from its peak. I was also fortunate to see it from two schools I attended in my childhood. One of them even had a mention of Sri Paada in the school anthem and featured it in the school emblem.

“පෙර දිගිනි පෙනේවී කඳු ශ්‍රීපා 

ඒ මතිනී අළුකර ලෝදා

හුදු රුවන් සකක්සේ බමමින් දිනිඳු උදාවේ //

එසේ සිසුන් තුලේ 

උපන් මෝහ තමස්සු බින්දවා සත්සල දිනේ”

Our school was fortunate to get the melody for the school anthem from Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, who established the school in 1934. The school's architecture has received inspiration from the infamous Shanthi Niketan in West Bengal, India. Tagore has come to Sri Lanka to lay the foundation stone for the school on invitation by the Philanthropist Wlmot Perera. The latter has donated his tea estate to establish the school. I was stunned by the beauty of its architecture and surrounding when I first went there for the admission test. I studied there for some time until moving to the best public school in Sri Lanka. It is located in Colombo, 130km from the peak of Sri Pada, yet we could still see it from our five story laboratory building on a clear day. Thus the image of Sri Paada was firmly established in my mind from very young age. It is an image that brings nostalgic memories of my home town, the schools and the climbs. 

Sri Paada Mountain is also called Samanala Kanda in Sinhala. As the story goes, every year before Sri Paada season begins on the full moon day of December, butterflies from all over the surrounding countryside fly together in long processions to worship the sacred foot print. Sadly, the lives of these exotic creatures come to an end at the peak of the mountain. I don’t know whether they can really fly many kilometers and ascend more than 2000 meters to make that pilgrimage. But I clearly remember seeing vivid procession of butterflies flying in front of our house to the direction of Sri Paada. We even had futile efforts to count them. That marvelous spectacle is rarely seen nowadays due to deforestation.

Perhaps my two classmates, Kasthuri and Charles, who are engineers of the National Water Supply Board, could witness if there were many bodies of butterflies at the summit when they visited there few weeks before the season began. They had the pious duty of ensuring the readiness of the water supply system to serve millions of devotees who climb the mountain during the five month long season. I envied them when I saw the pictures of their off season journey in the Facebook.

I liked to climb Sri Paada very much during my youth. How many times I climbed to the peak? I have lost the count. Many devotees ring the bell at the summit according to the number of times they climbed. But I think some people just boast by ringing it too many times to impress the onlookers. I had energy to climb the sacred mountain 3 times during three months in 1980. First time was with some friends including Charles, second time with parents and some neighbors and third time with brothers and their friends. But what I remember most is the first time I climbed with parents using the Rathnapura route.

There are three main routes to reach the peak. A climb using the Hatton route from Nallathanniya base takes about 6 hours. Ratnapura route from Palabbadala base takes about 10 hours to ascend. The most scenic Kuruwita route from Erathna base takes about 14 hrs. In 1983 we had a very memorable climb from Kuruwita route from our batch mate Priyantha Weerasinghe’s house. We were super fit university boys but most of us had leg cramps after climbing on the 12km strenuous trail.  My last attempt was in 2000, just before I left for Thailand. In that time we were on the least strenuous Hatton route but I could climb only up to the Japan-Sri Lanka peace pagoda. After that I had to abandon the journey due to tiredness. How could I become so weak in 17 years? My parents could climb when they were in their 60s. I have been dreaming of climbing Sri Paada with my children as my parents took me there several times. I regret for not giving that wonderful adventure for them.

Thailand also has a Sri Paada called Phra Puttapath in Saraburi Province. But it is not on a mountain. In fact it is at a small hill and therefore climbing is so easy. However, it is not mentioned in the gathaa (verse) about the four places where Lord Buddha placed his foot prints.

යන් නම්මාදය නදියා පුලිනේච තීරේ

(on the bank of Narmada River in India)

යන් සච්චබද්ධ ගිරිකේ සුමනා චලග්ගේ 

(on Sachchabaddha mountain in India)

and on Samanala mountain in Sri Lanka)

යන්තත්ත යෝනකපුරේ මුනිනෝච පාදන්

(at Mecca in Saudi Arabia according to some beliefs)

තම්පාද ලාංචන මහන් සිරසා නමාමී

      

I have been to Narmada River bank in Jabalpur. I could not see the holy foot print there because no one has found it yet. I also went to the top of the Sachchabaddha Mountain using a precarious cable car but I did not see any evidence of a footprint there. I am now in a neighboring country of Saudi Arabia but I guess I will not get permission to visit Mecca. I am happy that I could visit the locations of two holy foot prints, one in Samanala mountain in Sri Lanka and the other in Saraburi, Thailand. Although no one has seen the actual foot print, it is the belief that matters for most devotees. Sadly the younger generation climb the Sri Paada Mountain for fun and not due to a religious conviction. 

(To be continued ...)

View of Sri Paada from a location near my home town - Photo by my class mate Nihal Samarasinghe

Other photos by: Edirisinghe Kasturiarachchi, Charles Kao, Nayomaali Perera 

Rice Balls – Sri Lankan Version

Today is a special day for me and my wife. On special days like this we prepare ‘kiribath’ (milk rice). It is the traditional food that most Sri Lankans make on auspicious days and for special occasions. This morning we made kiribath to celebrate our 23^rd wedding anniversary. My wife cooked kiribath and I shaped it to make imbul kiribath emulating my maternal grandmother.

Almost every female member of my family had a specialty dish. Imbul kiribath was the specialty of my grandmother. Usually the traditional form of kiribath takes diamond shape. Imbul kiribath is a rugger ball shaped lump with a filling in the center. If the traditional one is delicious, imbul kiribath is heavenly delicious. My taste buds tingle when I remember the taste of my grandmother’s imbul kiribath. My mother inherited some of my grandmother’s skills but she could not emulate her. Then I can only dream of matching either of their culinary skills.

My grandparents were living in a village about 3km from ours. I still remember my grandfather bringing some sweets or few pieces of imbul kiribath for me and my brothers. He used to come in his bullock drawn cart (thirikkale). When the steel rimmed wheels of the cart and bull’s shoe plates hit the tar macadamized road it creates a rhythmic musical sound. We knew that grandfather was coming to our house carrying something for us when we hear that music. Most often it was a sweetmeat that our grandmother has prepared for us but on special occasions it was definitely milkrice.

The closest to the milkrice that I have tasted in another country is “Nasi Lemak”. It is normally long grained white rice cooked in light coconut milk. It is very fragrant. The fragrance is a concoction of smells coming from sweet coconut milk, pandan leaves (rampe) and ginger used in cooking rice. Nasi Lemak is usually served with shrimp paste sambal, deep fried anchovies, hard-boiled egg, roasted peanuts and few slices of cucumber. I always look for nasi lemak in the breakfast buffet if I happen to stay in a hotel in Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore. Who need toast or cereal or noodle soup if nasi lemak is served.

The similarity of kiribath and nasi lemak does not limit only to the coconut flavor in rice. While nasi lemak is served as a heap, milk rice is served as a cake or a lump. Like shrimp paste sambal for nasi lemak, milk rice is coupled with katta sambal (a grinded paste of dried chili, salt, lime juice and maldive fish) or lunu miris (a grinded paste of shallots, dried chili, salt, lime juice and maldive fish). A piece of palm sugar (hakuru) may be added as an accompaniment to balance hot and acidic taste of the sambal with a sweet taste.

Rice cakes are found in some other food cultures as well. For example, rice cakes and rice balls are omnipresent in Japanese, Korean and Chinese cuisine. They are made of short-grained and sticky Japanica type rice or rice flour. There is always a sweet or savory filling in the center. I am quite fond of triangular shaped Japanese rice cakes filled with shredded meat and wrapped in sea weed (kaiso). They are perfect for snacking. In Thailand and Lao glutinous rice is used to make many different types of rice cakes and balls. My favorite rice cake in Thailand is sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf and grilled on charcoal fire (called khao niew ping). It has shredded meat, taro or banana as filling.

Imbul kiribath is not like any of the rice balls or cakes found in other food cultures. It is much larger in size and shape. Unlike Japanese or Thai rice balls or cakes that can be eaten at any time, imbul kiribath is normally eaten at the breakfast. It is also eaten as a warm food but for me the best taste come when it is eaten late in the morning after several hours from making.

My grandmother used a dried plate part of an arecanut leaf (kolapatha) to get the perfect shape of imbul kiribath.  She put some steaming kiribath on an arecanut leaf plate and flattens it using the back of a coconut shell spoon to form an oval shape. Then she put some fried onion, chili and tamarind paste mixture on the center of the circle. After that she roles the plate so as to enclose the onion mixture with kiribath. Finally she holds the two ends of the role and twist her hands, one clockwise and the other counter clock wise, as if wrapping a candy using a piece of cellophane. Once the arecanut plate is opened one can see the rugger ball shaped imbul kiribath. 

In a foreign country it is very difficult find such plates to make imbul kiribath. Therefore, we used banana leaf to take the shape. Ours did not look so authentic. They ended up looking like flattened comforter pillows than rugger balls but they still could cheer-up the mood of our special occasion.

Making Imbul Kiribath in a foreign kitchen

First prepare the filling and let it cool down.

Ingredients for filling

25Og big red onion

3 green chilies

A sprig of curry leaves

1 tbsp red chili flakes

2 tbsp tamarind pulp (take out seeds and seed cover)

3 small pieces of pandan leaves (optional)

Salt to taste

3 tbsp coconut oil ( or substitute)

Slice onion length wise. Thinly cut green chilies. Fry onion, green chili, curry leaves and pandan leaves until onion is half brown. Add red chili flakes and mix well. Add tamarind pulp and salt and fry for few more minutes. Take off from heat and let it cool.   

Then make milk rice.

Ingradiants for milk rice

500g medium grain raw white rice or red rice (We used Thai jasmine rice when in Thailand)

2 cups of coconut milk (We diluted Thai coconut cream to make thick coconut milk)

Salt to taste

Cook rice as usual in a pot with adequate amount of water. Do not use the electric rice cooker. When the rice is just cooked add the coconut milk and salt and cook further until rice getting stickier and coconut milk is cooked. Stop the cooking process.

Keep a banana leaf on a flat surface and coat a thin layer of coconut milk to make it slightly wet. Even water will do. Then take one big spoonful of milk rice and flatten it on the banana leaf. Take a table spoon full of fired onion mixture and spread on the center of the flattened milk rice. Then roll the banana leaf to form an elongated ball of milk rice. Make sure that the onion filling is completely covered by milk rice. You can use another piece of banana leaf to get the shape if rolling is difficult. Once shaped like a rugger ball, it is called imbul kiribath. Leave the rice ball to cool down. Repeat the balling process until all milk rice and onion mixture is over. It is best to serve when the rice balls have lost most of its heat. A piece of palm sugar can be served as an accompaniment.  

Did I join the blog bandwagon

These days every Tom, Dick and Harry own a blog one way or the other. Why do I need one? … especially when I consider blogs are for pseudo authors. The real authors publish in the main stream. Don’t they? I myeself as an academic is expected to publish in academic journals, not in a silly blog. “Publish or perish” so they said. But writing an academic paper is such a boring task. As the saying goes… academic papers are read by the author(s) who write them (is it true?), the reviewers (do they?), and perhaps a couple of graduate students. Non-academic writing is more appealing to a wider spectram. But do I have skills to do something like that?

I thought of writing a blog as a rehearsal before writing something more appealing to you. Is that a good enough reason?

Two of my friends write blogs. One writes almost every other day from Australia about anything from sanitary napkins to estrogen, and poetry to quantum physics. When I asked him why he waste his time on silly blogs, he retored referring to the boring academic papers that I have written. He writes for his own happiness. He has a strong enough reason. He make himself happy by counting the number of published blogs, hits, comments, years etc. and even blog about those numbers. Am I interested in numbers? No! Am I interested in writing about a wide spectrum of subjects? No!
My other friend writes on his Facebook page about 3 songs that share the same theme. He write it like a blog, once in every 2-3 months. It is like a three course meal in a French fine dining restaurant. I am sure lot of thoughts go into it. I can’t do something like that either. So I will try to be somewhere in between following the philosophy that I always believe in - madhayama prathipadaawa (the noble middle path).

Then what should I write about? Several friends who saw the pictures of my ‘experiemntal dishes’ suggested me to write a cook book. Do I have any credentials for something like that? No! I should not become a joke. Wait a minute… Do I have fond memories of good food? Yes, I have a plenty. My interest in cooking and tasting good food goes back to my childhood. I vividly remember that we helped our mother to prepare ‘string hoppers’ in some weekend mornings. It was an activity that brought the whole family together.


Our beloved mother left us exactly 12 years ago. Although she went on her own ‘trail’ and we on our own, the strings that bound us together are virtually there. I named this blog “Trails and Strings” in her loving memory.

Life is a journey and we make many bonds on the trail. Strings bind us not only to various people but also to tastes, smells, sights, sounds and feelings on this trail. Travelling and food always amused me. Architecture became not only my career trail but also my hobby. Therefore, I decided to write about, travel, food and architecture in my blog.

Let’s see if I can survive in the blogosphere.

(Photo credit: Jagath Siriwardena)