Of Yet Another Coconut Milk Rice, Paal Soru/Kiri Bath and Pure. Unadulterated Happiness

#lockdownsimplemeal

#minimalisticmeals

#recyclefood

#leftovers

#NoJudgementPlease is this even a hashtag?

#servelovegive

#cookwithlove

#cooknoairs

#vegetarian

#vegan

Now, for the Sri Lankan version of Nasi Lemak or vice versa, the idea that mooted the Malaysian breakfast favourite.

Paal Soru or Kiri Bath or Milk Rice, a Sri Lankan celebratory breakfast to mark auspicious beginnings of the Tamizh or Sinhala New Year.
Coconut milk rice wherein the rice (red or white) and coconut milk symbolize prosperity and abundance.
Popular accompaniments are Katta sambal/Lunu Miris, a ground paste of onion, chilli (flakes), with a lavish addition of lemon juice (and salt, sugar) or
Seeni Sambal, onions fried with chilli powder, cinnamon, cloves, curry powder, rampa/pandan/screwpine leaves, tamarind, salt, sugar.

Wistful memories of mother in law. Dishing up delicious steaming hot diamond shaped slices of Paal Soru with spicy Katta Sambal and Seeni Sambol for breakfast on New Year’s Day, 1st January 1992. We’d arrived in Colombo for our wedding reception and stayed on a bit until the New Year.
Since then, this combo takes pride of place for breakfast on New Year’s (English, Tamizh, Sinhala), Ponggal (Harvest), Deepavali, and any day which can be loosely termed a festival.
Photos depict Paal Soru and Katta Sambal.