May 30,

Yesterday we awoke and had French Toast for breakfast. The cinnamon we bought here is so fresh and amazing! We spent the morning continuing the set up of my Pixel phone. Frustrating working with my old phone – poor thing😢. Finally, we went out and found a place selling SIM cards. We bought one for my phone so at least both of our phones have one now – no more having to change a SIM from one phone to another. That will alleviate some of this process. We also went to the store and a veggie stand. 

Returned back home and continued working with the data transfer, which now required WIFI. Of course this became hit or miss. HUMPH!… mumble, mumble… 

Anyway, we took break and had light lunch of cheese and crackers. Then, we did a WhatsApp with Rosie inquiring about a Sri Lankan Cooking Class. We got one set up for the next day! We had to stop working with the phone due to issues and needing updates. So we watched some You tube.

Around six, our host's wife brought us supper!!🤗  It was a dish of stewed wild boar. It was so tender and good. We quick did up some pasta and had it over that! Very nice and appreciated!! Sri Lankan hospitality at work again! We went to bed around 2100.

Today, we awoke and had Muesli and yogurt for breakfast. Then we tried to putter around with my Pixel phone, but opted to go for a walk instead. We went down to both beach alcove areas. There were a few people trying to surf. I took lots of pictures with my new phone to test it out. This is why we went with a Pixel phone for me. We also saw more monkeys and peacocks (they must have heard I was out to take pictures😂). We had decided to skip lunch since we will be doing the cooking class at one. But we did see more places we could eat at. 

Arriving back at our place, Rosie wanted to change our class time to four – no problem. So I did eat an apple. Watched some You tube until time to go, then did the 3 minute trek up to Rosie's place. As soon as she saw me, she recognized me and was glad. That was mutual! She got to know Jeff as we discussed the class and the different dishes we wanted to do versus what she had in mind. Rosie is just such as effervescent personality! While we were sitting discussing, she called to a squirrel and fed it some rice. Then down to business, Rosie actually offered to do the “class” over two or three days. We decided to go this route, due to the nature of how much she wants to show us and how much her crew puts out. The two lady helpers were there and doing much busy work – assembling the already prepped cut veggies. Rosie's daughter (twenty-something) joined and helped them. Rosie sat with us because..

Now, we set about “doing” also. First was Coconut Roti. We each had our own bowl to assemble the mixture: five handfuls – not kidding! – of flour, two handfuls of shaved coconut, salt to taste, coconut oil & water (about a Tablespoon each – hard to go wrong as the mixture is very  “forgiving”). Mix it all to a dough ball that has incorporated all the flour in the bowl. Now separate and handful at a time and press in flat. Our first one she had us press it on a leaf – vein side up, for some decorated roti. Then take and heat, brown in a pan over medium heat –  the ladies did this step, as we moved on to making Sambal Paste and Coconut Sambal. 

Sambal Paste: Chili paste, peppercorns, and salt into a mortar and break/grind it. Then add garlic cloves and shallots, pounding this down. Last add tomato wedges and just pound to break these slightly. Now you have a Sambal paste, type-pesto. You can top your roti, use in a salad, or in pasta, etc. Take a small bit of this (maybe a quarter cup) for next…

Coconut Sambal: Mix sambal paste in around 2 cups of shaved coconut and one tsp salt. Voila, coconut sambal, that we love! Easy peasy!!

We took a little break to eat roti and the two sambals!! Yum! Benefits of cooking classes😋! Next…

Curry Powder: 8 handfuls of coriander seeds, 2 handfuls of fennel seeds, 2 handfuls of cumin, 2-3 stripped stems of curry leaves and the small part of stems (can substitute basil or oregano here), one “slight” handful of peppercorns, one handful of rice (this was a surprise), approximately one tsp of cloves, two tsp of fresh cardamon, 1/2 tsp fenugreek, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, six whole (broken into one inch pieces), dried red chillies with the stems, one handful of cinnamon sticks, around one tsp turmeric, and one stem (broken into one inch pieces) of lemongrass. Stir all ingredients constantly while toasting in pan over medium heat until fragrant and all leaves/pieces are dried. Then in food processor, process all until it is curry powder! Flavor will last couple of months if sealed in container.

Eggplant Curry: Curry leaves leaves, garlic, onions and green chillies fried in coconut oil until fragrant. Then add three inch diced eggplant pieces. Sautee until just tender. Add (approximate measures of) 1 Tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 C coconut milk, and 1 bouillon cube, to pan while stirring constantly. Let this simmer until milk thickens (around five minutes). Serve.

Pineapple Curry: (Do in a clay or non metal pan) To heated coconut oil, add 3 pinch (literally, Rosie, used her first three fingers with thumb's worth😂) of mustard seeds, 3 pinch chilli flakes, 3 pinch curry powder and mix. Add approx. 2 C fresh, cubed pineapple, 2-3 Tbsp honey, 3 pinch salt, 3 pinch turmeric, 3 pinch ground black pepper. Stir once and let simmer on medium heat. Stir only two more times approximately one to two minutes apart so as to allow caramelizing of pineapple. Top with fresh cinnamon and remove from heat after third stir. Serve.

Potato Curry: Approx. 2 c half-boiled potato wedges, 3 pinch turmeric, 3 pinch ground black pepper, 3 pinch salt, approx. 1 C coconut milk (enough to mostly cover potatoes). Stirring and simmering around five minutes. then add 3 pinch of each fenugreek, ground cinnamon, and curry powder. Serve.

Mushroom Curry: To coconut oil in pan, add 3 pinch mustard seeds and curry powder; 1/2 handful of onion; 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped; 2-3 tsp green chillies, chopped. Sautee until fragrant then add 2 C mushrooms and stir. Add 3 pinch of salt, ground black pepper, chilli flakes, turmeric; and one bouillon. Mix. Then toss in approx. 1 C each – leeks, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes. Stir and add drizzle of honey and drizzle of soy sauce.

WOWZA! We sampled some of each and she invited us to come eat supper in hour!!! What?! Oh MY! So we accepted hoping that our stomachs would at least be empty by then!

When we arrived at 1930, there was another couple. He's Aussie and she's Indonesian. They've been on vacation here for 10 days and have five more, then back- him Australia, her Bali. When we sat they were already with a tableful of foods. So we joined them, eating and conversing as more stuff came out. By the time all the food was out, it was around 24 dishes!!! Everything from rice to… I will try to list it all. The rice; two kinds of spinach curries; two mango curries; pineapple curry; potato curry; eggplant curry; mushroom curry; okra curry; two jackfruit curries – one was just the “old seeds” of the fruit, which Rosie doesn't like, nor did we actually; chicken curry; pumpkin curry; cheese kottu; chopped casava leaves with shaved coconut; spiced roasted chickpeas; fish-dried and smoked like in Maldives- & prawns with peanuts (I did not eat this😢, Jeff said it was good); and coconut sambal… this is all we can remember! The four of us did our best to put a dent into the bounteous, plentiful spread before us, but we could have used at least four more. (Hardly any of us had any of the rice!) 

We left – rolling down the hill!!😂🤣 Whew😅!! Back at our place we showered and readied for bed, 2200.