It's like India only nicer (Colombo, Hikkaduwa, Galle and Talalla ~ Sri Lanka)

January 2020

Our first stop in Sri Lanka was the capital city - Colombo. Have to say it a breath of fresh air compared to Egypt. Have gone from a hot, dry and dusty climate to a hot humid and clean climate. Hitting the cash machine in the airport we managed to get about $1,500 in one go (for reasons that elude me the ATMs in Egypt are limited to $300 in one go) and the other big difference was the notes. Egypt the notes are dull shades of grey, brown and green. Sri Lanka they a bright red, green and purple. Though hope a Woke Greenie doesn't look to closely at the bright red 100 rupee note as the building celebrated on it is the Norochcholai Coal Fired Power Station.

Only stayed here a couple of days so as to sort out a few essentials - such as a getting cash, a sim card, a guide book and seeing the latest Star Wars movie!

First two were acomplished with the surprisingly minimum of hassle at the airport, the guide book however took a bit of tramping around various bookshops and second hand bookshops till we found one. The last was v easy as booked tickets online for a very nice cinema complex complete with food hall.

Along the water front is Galle Face Green and in the evening it is home to multiple food stalls. Tried a couple of the deep fried prawn type snacks along there and they were delicious.

From Colombo we headed along the coast about 95km to Hikkaduwa. Decided to do this leg on a local train which in hindsight may not have been the best idea as the only ticket was second class unreserved. The train was packed and ended up standing for the whole three hour trip.

Hikkaduwa is a pleasent little beach where we basically chilled for a few days, lying in the sun, swimming in what was quite rough dumpy surf, eating and drinking - very relaxing.  We saw the New Year in here and was actually awake for it (only because of the noise of the fireworks being let off not far from where we were sleeping).

Hikkaduwa was one of the coastal towns that got hit by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and on the outskirts of it is a museum commerating this disaster.  The photos of the damage and immediate after effects are very hard hitting. Just down from the museum is a statue of Bhudda (identical to one torn down in Afghanistan by the Taliban) - and the Tsunami wave that hit Hikkaduwa was as high as the statue and went 7 kilometres inland.

From Hikkaduwa we headed to Galle by local bus. Trip took about an hour and half and cost $1.50 each (which was over double what we should have been charged) but at that sort of prices we don't really care.

Galle is home to Fort Galle - originally built by the Portuguese and one of the few places along this coast not effected by the Tsunami as the wave broke on the fort walls. The town within the walls is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as it was originally a new old trading port but by the Dutch in the 1600s a large number of the buildings reflect the colonial heritage.

The paving stones in the local church are made from old grave stones.

We stayed in a small hotel called Muhsin  Villa which was an old renovated colonial building. The highlight of staying here was that we got Hoppas with dhal and coconut sambal for breakfast.  Now a Hoppa is made from the same batter as a Masala Dosai and if you don't know or have never has a Malasa Dosai got out and find an indian restaurant that serves them. Hoppas are made either plain or with an egg in the middle. One trick to eating them is to wait for the the Hoppa to soften (fresh they tend to be very crispy) then add some dhal and coconut  sambal and then roll them up into a tube. V yummy.

The other big local dish is "Curry and Rice". This is basically a large plate of rice and a handful of curry dishes that are made based in seasonal produce. We had this a few times.

A short bus ride to the east is the coast line where stilt fishermen used to perch on stilts stuck in the rocky sea bed and, well, fish. However today it is now a far more lucrative to pose for tourists.

There is definitely an attempt to get the environment clean and to encourage recycling - as can be seen by this quite cool plastic bottle collection point.

From Galle it was another local bus ride to Talalla for a few more days of sunbathing, swimming, eating and drinking.  Talalla is a really nice little beach where tourism has had little impact and fishermen still go about their lives.

Think we were rather spoilt there as the food at our hotel and the one beach cafe (The Funny Banana) we ate at a few times was amazing - some very fresh seafood.

One accompaniment to dinner that we have acquired a taste for is the Sri Lankan version of chilli sambal - very hot and great depth of flavour.

A dish we had a couple of time here is Kottu Roti, which I assume was originally dveloped to use up left over rotis. It is a combination of godhamba (local to Sri Lanka?) roti, vegetables, spices, egg and fish or chicken. The ingredients are sautéed on a hot cast-iron griddle while being chopped and mixed by repeated pounding using heavy iron blades or a spatula - the sound of which can be heard from a long distance, and is served with a curry sauce called salna.

Below is our prawn fest dinner. Prawn Kottu Roti and battered prawns

From Talalla we head to Tissamaharama for some leopard spotting.

Sri Lankan Chilli Sambal

  INGREDIENTS

• 50g dried red chillies
• 50g red onion - finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon Maldive dried fish (or dried shrimp)
• Lime juice to taste
• Salt to taste

  INSTRUCTIONS

• Roast your chillies for about three minutes until fragrant over medium heat in a dry frying pan.
• Soak the chillies for half an hour. Remove the stems and place in a mortar or food processor.
• Using your pestle and mortar (or food processor) grind the red chillies with just a little water until you have a paste.
• Add the onion and dried fish or shrimp and continue grinding until combined.
• Squeeze a little lime juice over it all and add salt to taste.

Sri Lankan Coconut Sambal

  INGREDIENTS

• ½ fresh coconut ,grated (about200gms), (or 200gms  frozen grated coconut)
• 6 small red dried chili peppers (or 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 small Bombay onions or 1 red onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon Maldive fish chips (optional)
• Juice of 1 lime

  INSTRUCTIONS

• Using a large mortar and pestle (or working in batches in a smaller mortar and pestle), grind the dried red chilies with the salt and sugar into a fine paste until there are no chili seeds visible in the paste.
• Then, add the Maldive fish chips (optional), and grind a little more.
• Next, add the freshly shredded coconut to combine with the paste. The whole idea at this stage is to get the coconut to absorb the flavor and get the color of the chili paste.
• Finely, add the diced red onions. Grind a couple more minutes until obtaining a paste with enough texture.
• Add the juice of the lime, mix well, and serve.

FYI - Maldive fish chips we have found out us cured & dried tuna that has been shreded into small chips and another common ingredient to both are curry leaves.