Supper in Sri Lanka

Widuri: Okay, Danu. Now, let's talk about what do you have in Sri Lanka for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Danu: So in Sri Lanka, I will talk about my breakfast first.

Widuri: Okay. Breakfast.

Danu: So in Sri Lanka, there are different kinds of breakfast menus for Sri Lankans. For example, we eat so much grains, nuts, and we eat rice as well. But for rice, the special thing in Sri Lanka is we cook milk rice.

Widuri: Milk rice.

Danu: Do you know how do we cook milk rice?

Widuri: No, but it sounds interesting.

Danu: Yes. We put coconut oil and coconut milk in the cooked rice and we make it milk rice. And we eat that milk rice with a special paste of chilies and dried fish. It's really delicious and really healthy.

And apart from that, we have fruits and salads as well. For example, Sri Lanka is a tropical country and we have many kinds of different fruits all around the area. So for example, oranges, star fruits, mangosteen, bananas, are the most popular fruits for breakfast menu.

Widuri: Oh, interesting. So that chili paste, it means spicy? That milk rice will be spicy?

Danu: Yes, because of the coconut milk, it's a bit sweet but at the same time because of the chili paste, it's hot.

Widuri: Wow.

Danu: So you can adjust your spiciness as you wish.

Widuri: Oh so, you eat spicy food in the morning. Then what about lunch?

Danu: Oh for the lunch, it's usually everybody eats rice and curry. But in Sri Lanka, rice and curry doesn't mean just rice and one dish of curry. We usually make three to four dishes. And it might be fish curry, some vegetables, and another vegetable salad. For example, the other vegetable curry might be cabbage while the salad might be some homegrown leaves. Very healthy food.

Widuri: Wow. Another healthy food. So you have salad for both breakfast and lunch.

Danu: Yes, it depends. So you can – some people have both for breakfast and lunch. But usually, it's for lunch, we have a salad of leaves.

Widuri: Is that what you always have at your school and home?

Danu: Usually, my mom makes my food for me to take to school. So my parents, they don't like – they don't want me to eat from outside because it's healthier to eat home. So my mom makes sure that I take proper food to school. So basically, yes, I eat my home made food.

Widuri: So she makes sure you eat your salad, right?

Danu: Yes. She makes sure I eat my salad.

Widuri: Nice. Then what about dinner?

Danu: For dinner. For dinner, it's a very simple dish. In Sri Lanka, in our culture, we say that you should eat like a king for breakfast. Eat like a prince for the lunch. And eat like a beggar for the dinner. That's because of the healthy lifestyle we follow. So for dinner, it might be a simple dish like bread and some gravy or another dish called pittu.

Widuri: Pittu?

Danu: Yes.

Widuri: What is that?

Danu: Pittu is made with grounded coconuts and flour. You mix it. And you boil it. You steam it. Steam-boil it. So it becomes a very simple food, and you put some coconut milk on it, and you'll eat it.

Widuri: Is it sweet?

Danu: You can make it sweet and you can make it hot depending on what ingredients do you use. So in Sri Lanka, we use lots of different spices, so depending on what spices you use, you can change the flavor as well.

Widuri: Wow. Interesting. It seems like you have a lot spices in Sri Lanka. And then what about snack time. Do you have snack time?

Danu: Yes, definitely. We have a snack time in the evening. For example, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, we usually have tea.

Widuri: Tea?

Danu: Milk tea with some cookies.

Widuri: Oh nice.

Danu: That's like family tea time. So we sit together. We have some cookies, maybe some bananas, and we drink milk tea. Have you tried Sri Lanka's tea?

Widuri: I think I remember—what is it again? Ceylon tea.

Danu: Yes, it is Ceylon tea.

Widuri: Ceylon tea.

Danu: Ceylon tea.

Widuri: Ceylon tea.

Danu: Yes.

Widuri: So you mix the milk with that Ceylon tea.

Danu: That's right. We mix the milk with Ceylon tea.

Widuri: Interesting. I want to try it.

Danu: You should try it. It's very delicious.

Widuri: Okay. Thank you, Danu.

Danu: Thank you, Widuri