When I was in grade 6 I learned menu planning in home science class. We used to create menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Traditional Sri Lankan breakfast foods I learned back then have been slowly turned into dinner as they can be time consuming to make. Most families are now dual income families and in the morning there is no time to prepare elaborate meals or to sit down and have a long breakfast. As a result people rarely make hoppers (bowl shaped pancakes made of fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk), string hoppers (rice flour pressed into thin noodles and steamed), milk rice (rice cooked in coconut milk) , pittu ( a mixture of rice flour and grated coconut steamed in a special cylindrical shaped container), and various legumes for breakfast. Instead they are now popular as dinner items, or enjoyed at special occasions. It’s true for my family as well. Mom makes certain traditional Sri Lankan breakfast items only in the weekend and some items are made for dinner.
Nowadays popular breakfast foods in Sri Lanka are bread, cereal and porridge such as oats. On weekdays mom cooks rice and several curries early in the morning. Some curries are used with rice as breakfast and then the others are eaten at lunch. Mom does that to save time as sister G leaves for work early and takes lunch to work. Mom makes something special for breakfast on weekends. Recently she made some of my favorite foods- chickpeas, milk rice, yucca and mung beans- for breakfast.
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| Chickpeas sautéed with green chilies,red chilies, onions, mustard seeds, and freshly grated coconut. |
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| Milk rice, fish curry and chili paste. |
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| Yucca with coconut sambal ( freshly grated coconut, shallots, dried chilies, lime juice & salt) |
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| Mung beans, freshly grated coconut and onion relish. |
If you'd like to see mom's kitchen, here's a
post I did last year.
XX
Nil
Yum!!!
ReplyDeleteIndeed Anita. I’ve already gained two pounds. 😁
DeleteThank you for showing us, food, native to your country.
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmm, all that coconut sounds quite delicious to me.
And thank you for linking to an older post, showing items in your mom's kitchen.
Gentle hugs...
You are very welcome, Wisps of Words. 😊
DeleteOh, those look so good, Nil. I love your Mom's plates too.
ReplyDeleteMom gave me that plate because she said it’s bigger. Apparently she wants me to eat more. 😊
DeleteOh my goodness those dishes look so good. I wish blogger allowed us to sample them!
ReplyDeleteHahaa I always have that wish when I see photos of food. 😊
DeleteOK, now I am feeling nostalgic, as well as hungry! :D Enjoy your mother's cooking; I know she is enjoying being able to cook for you. :)
ReplyDeleteShe really does, Bless. Mom’s cooking is the best. 😊
DeleteVery interesting! And colorful...look good! Andrea
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrea. 😊
DeleteThat all sounds very yummy to me, Nil. My son loves trying out different foods from other countries.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chel. I too love trying different foods from other countries.
DeleteThey are some delicious looking breakfast meals. I have never thought about having such foods for breakfast, but why not? They would definitely sustain you through out the day as well as being really healthy for you. I loved seeing your mum's kitchen and learning about how she does things. She has definitely made the space her own. So very interesting. Thanks Nil xxx
ReplyDeleteBreakfast used to be the main meal in Sri Lanka, Tania. Now as people get busier and busier traditional everyday dishes have become special occasion meals.
DeleteOh my gosh if only I could lick my screen and taste that yummy food
ReplyDeleteHehee now you know how I feel when I see the photos of your food on Facebook. 😁
DeleteI took a look at your post about your mums kitchen, Ilove all her utensils and pots and just lick my lips knowing the food that comes out of them would be so tasty
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of savoury and flavoursome breakfasts - far better than cereals. It is a shame such dishes take time to prepare. Enjoy the special breakfast treats, prepared by your mum. If she fancies a visit to Glasgow, I'd be happy to host her :-) and spend some time in the kitchen with her.
ReplyDeleteHehee I’ll tell mom about your invitation. 😊
DeleteWe’ve never had cereal even once as breakfast when growing up. I started eating cereal after I moved to the USA. I don’t eat cereal anymore after reading the studies about arsenic in cereal.
I loved having hoppers.....either sort.....for breakfast, but would have to order them the night before. I stopped when I found out the poor old nanna had to get up really early to make them for me! Mung beans and coconut was another favourite.....I still make them or chick peas for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteMom doesn’t make hoppers for breakfast anymore because of the same reason, Nanette. Now we normally have it for dinner.
DeleteAll of those dishes look so delicious and healthy, it's always lovely to have some of mum's cooking too!
ReplyDeleteYes thrift deluxe. Mom’s cooking is the best. 😊
DeleteEverything looks delicious! Enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie 😊
DeleteWhat a healthy diet. As I get older, I find I make more rice dishes, too. I never thought if cooking rice in coconut milk...how interesting. My mom stayed home and cooked for us when we were kids. It was very delicious, but time consuming. I always helped her. Your mom sounds so sweet.
ReplyDeleteThank you Stephenie. Yes mom is a sweetheart. I think both your mom and mine have similar qualities. They take pride in being a good homemaker.
DeleteFabulous looking meals Nil. I love chickpeas; i could eat them anytime:) cheers sherry
ReplyDeleteI too love chickpeas Sherry. I even eat them as a snack. 😊
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