Sri Lanka Handbook (2000); Fire and Spice (1989)

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FIRE AND SPICE:
THE CUISINE OF SRI LANKA
by Heather Jansz Balasuriya and Karin Winegar
New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company
1989

   Balasuriya (from Sri Lanka, a Minnesota restaurateur and also a model) and
Winegar (a Minnesota journalist) provide an American introduction to Sri
Lankan  cuisine.  Eleanor Mondale ("an actress") writes a blurb.
   Evan Balasuriya (now divorced from Heather--a Sri Lankan named Heather??)
opened the Mulligan Stew House #1 in Minneapolis in 1978.  This became the
Sri Lanka Curry House, which closed in 1998.  He's trying to makle a go of a
restaurant called Sri Lanka, from Google information.
   "A Glossary of Sri Lankan Terms and Ingredients" starts the book.

Pg. 22:  banana chilies...cardamom...coriander...curd...curry leaves
Pg. 23:
_cutlets_--From the Sinhalese _cutlis_.  THese patties of seasoned meat or
seafood, finely chopped vegetables, and mashed potato are really what
Westerners call "croquettes."  Sri Lankan cutlets are formed into balls or
patties and are usually dipped into beaten egg, and then breaded and fried.
They are served either as appetizers or as main courses.
dhal...dried shrimp.
Pg. 24:  fenugreek...
_frickadels_--Minced meat or fish, shaped in balls, coated with bread crumbs
and fried.  One of the ingredients in the complicated holiday dish, lampris.
(_Frikkadels_ is the Dutch word for "force-meat balls," or stuffing made into
meatball form.)
ghee
Pg. 25:  gingelly oil...goraka...green chilies...
_hoppers_--A hopper looks something like a crepe before it's folded,
something like an English muffin.  The word comes from the Tamil _appam_ or
_apu_, which means clapping with the hands; and that is how hoppers are
shaped.  They are eaten for breakfast and as snacks along with sambols, with
sweetening such as honey or syrup, or with butter and jam.  Originally, palm
toddy was used for leavening in hoppers, but this has been reploaced by
yeast.
Pg. 26:  Jackfruit, or jakfruit...jaggery...lampries...lemongrass...Maldive
fish.
Pg. 27:
_mallung_--Sri Lankan term for a vegetable dish cooked with coconut meat.
Dried prawn mallung or dried fish mallung are also popular.
Marmite...mustard seed.
Pg. 28:
_pittu_--A steamed flour or rice flour pastry that replaces bread, rice, or
rotti in a meal.  It is served crumbled or sliced, and is typically eaten for
breakfast--although many people like it for dinner.
rampa (pandanus leaf)...red chilies...rottis...rulang.
Pg. 29:  saffron...sambol...seeni
sambol...tamarind...treacle...turmeric...Vegemite...woodapple.

Pg. 107:  *_Badum_ is a Sinhalese style of cooking: frying.

Pg. 119:  *_Thaldala_ is the Sinhalese word for "cooking with oil."

Pg. 199:  _Pana_ is the Sinhalese word for "comb"; perhaps it's a reference
to the hairlike resemblance of the dough when it is squeezed out of a mold.

Pg. 201:  Watelappan is a Muslim dessert served at many special occasions in
Sri Lanka, such as weddings.  It's very traditional--all the ingredients are
indigenous.

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SRI LANKA HANDBOOK
Bath, England: Footprint Handbooks Ltd.
2000

   A really good food listing, plus a nice glossary can be found here.

Pg. 341:  _Sri Lankan specialties_
_amblulthial_  sour fish curry
_kahu buth_  kaha rice (yellow, cooked in coconut milk with spices and
saffron/turmeric colouring) kiri rice is similar but white and unspiced,
served with treacle, chilli or pickle
_biththara rotti_  rotti mixed with eggs
_buriyani_  rice cooked in meat stock and pieces of spiced meat sometimes
garnished with boiled egg slices
_hoppers (appa)_  cupped pancakes made of fermented rice flour, coconut milk,
yeast, eaten with savoury (or sweet) curry
_lamprai_  rice cooked in stock parcelled in a banana leaf with dry meat and
vegetable curries, fried meat and fish balls and baked gently
_mellung_  boiled, shredded vegetables cooked with spice and coconut
_pittu_  rice-flour and grated coconut steamed in bamboo moulds, eaten with
coconut milk and curry
_polos pahi_  pieces of young jackfruit (tree lamb) replaces meat in this dry
curry
_rotty or rotti_  flat, circular, unleavened bread cooked on a griddle
_sambal_  hot and spicy accompaniment usually made with onions, grated
coconut, pepper (and sometimes dried fish)
_sathai_  spicy meat pieces baked on skewers (sometimes sweet and sour)
_"short eats"_  a selection of meat and vegetable snacks (in pastry or
crumbled and fried) charged as eaten
_string hoppers (indiappa)_  flat circles of steamed rice flour noodles eaten
usually at breakfast with thin curry
_thosai or dosai_  large crisp pancake made with rice and lentil flour batter
_vadai_  deep-fried savoury lentil doughnut rings

_Sweets (rasakavilis)_
_curd_  rich, creamy, buffalo milk yoghurt served with treacle or jaggery
_gulab jamun_  dark, fried spongy balls of milk curd and flour soaked in
syrup
_halwal aluva_  fudge-like, made with milk, nuts and fruit
_kadju kordial_  fudge squares made with cashew nuts and jaggery
_kaludodol_  dark, mil-based, semi-solid sweet mixed with jaggery, cashew and
spices (a moorish delicacy)
_rasgulla_  syrup-filled white spongy balls of milk-curd and flour
_thalaguli_  balls formed after pounding roasted sesame seeds with jaggery
_wattalappam_  set "custard" of coconut, milk, eggs and cashew, flavoured
with spices and jaggery

_Indian specialties_
A typical meal in an Indian restaurant would include some "bread" (roti,
chapati or nan) and/or rice, a vegetable curry and/or a meat curry, lentils
(dal), raita (yogurt with shredded cucumber or fruit) and papadam (deep fried
pulse flour wafer rounds).

_do piaza_  with onions (added twice during cooking)
_dal makhani_  lentils coated with butter
_dum aloo_  potato curry with a spicy yogurt, tomato and onion sauce
_kebab_  skewered (or minced and shaped) meat or fish; a dry spicy dish
cooked on a fire
_kima mattar_  mince meat with peas
_korma_  in a fairly mild rich sauce using cream/yoghurt
_matar panir_  curd cheese cubes with peas and spices (and often tomatoes)
_mughlai_  rich north Indian style
_murgh massallam_  chicken in a rich creamy marinade of yoghurt, spices and
herbs with nuts
_rogan josh_  mutton/beef pieces in a rich creamy, red sauce
_tandoori_  baked in a tandoor (special clay oven)
_tikka_  marinated meat pieces baked quite dry

Pg. 333:  GLOSSARY
(I'll list "M" and "N" entries, with detail for entries not in the OED--ed.)

_maha_  great; in Sri Lanka, the main rice crop
_Mahabodhi_  Great Enlightenment of Buddha
_Mahadeva_ lit. "Great Lord," Siva
_Mahavansa_ literally "Great Dynasty or Chronicle," a major source on early
history and legend
_mahayana_
_Mahesha_ (Maheshvara) Great Lord, Siva
_mahout_
_Maitreya_
_makara_
_malai_
_mandapa_
_mandir_
_mantra_
_Mara_
_mawatha_ roadway
_maya_ illusion
_Minakshi_ lit. "fish-eyed," Parvati, Siva's consort
_Mohammad_
_moksha_
_moonstone_
_mudra_
_Muharram_
_Naga_
_Nandi_
_Narayana_
_Nataraja_
_Natha_
_navagraha_
_navaratri_
_niche_
_nirvana_