#10 Erasha Hettige – Colombo, Sri Lanka
Head to Sri Lanka to see how one family is navigating food rhythms and rituals during a global COVID-19 lockdown.
I stumbled across Erasha’s Instagram page and got hooked on her colourful, authentic Sri Lankan family meals. The more I learned about a typical Sri Lankan diet, the more I wondered how the young kids learnt to embrace the variety of bold flavours, rich sauces and street snacks.
Erasha was so generous providing her insight into customary food preparation for her family, and enlightening me on the key flavours of her region. I’m keen to introduce some of her ideas into my home cooking schedule and get brave in sliding a curry under my son’s nose.
Her recipe for fruity Sweet and Sour Pork has a whack of chilli, pineapple, lime leaves and the surprising addition of … Vegemite. Serve with milk rice or steamed rice.
Name: Erasha Hettige
Occupation: Part-time Teacher & Owner/Baker Sugar Salt and Sprinkles
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Family members: Amal & Erasha, Ayara (7yo) Evineth (2yo)
We are a Sri Lankan family, living in the suburbs of Colombo. We love to travel and head down to the beach whenever we can. We value books, food, family and friends and love having people over to share a meal, good conversation and laughs.
Although this is a tiny island, Sri Lanka has a pretty extensive food heritage and food culture. Sri Lankan food is currently an amalgamation of flavours and cuisines, but at its core, we have many traditional recipes, some of which were influenced by Dutch and Portuguese colonisers. For the most part, Sri Lankan food is healthy, and includes an abundance of fresh local produce, coconut and spices. Sri Lankan meals are usually carb centric and, in some households, rice is eaten for all three meals.
Most Sri Lankan kids are exposed to all the local food pretty early on. It’s quite a child-friendly, healthy cuisine. Typically, for breakfast, kids may have fruit, herbal porridge, grains like chick peas or mung beans or milk rice. Lunch would be rice and an array of curries, while for dinner there is coconut rottis, thosai, string hoppers, hoppers, pittu, kottu rotti etc. Often, these dinner options are served for breakfast too. I obviously, can’t speak for all Sri Lankans, but my kids basically ate what we did from around 7-8 months onwards.
Right now, in our home, breakfast consists of fruit, cereal, pancakes or porridge. Lunch is alway rice and curry - with plenty of fresh veggies, greens and a meat or seafood, but sometimes vegan. For dinner we can have everything from burgers, fried chicken, naans, pies and pasta to Lankan favourites like coconut roti, string hoppers and pittu.
Food has always been important to us. I used to cook regularly before we had kids and we used to entertain quite often too. We used to menu plan and cook in bulk, which we still do and we often have friends and family over for pot luck meals. There were times we thought nothing of eating cereal for dinner though. We don’t do that now!
Since having kids, I think I am more aware of what is being put in our bodies. I’m more mindful of ingredients and labels on packages and creating balanced meals. We try to include fresh produce, fruit or veggies in to every meal. We’re also passionate about getting the kids to try new foods and new flavours. As far as actual cooking goes, nothing much changed after we became parents. We cook and eat practically the same kinds of meals. The only big difference, maybe, is that we don’t go out to eat at restaurants much now. Its just easier to eat at home or just get take away with the kids.
My best food memories are the smells of a Sri Lankan Love Cake being baked at Christmas, and our weekly Sunday lunch. Love cake is a semolina-based cake, and when it bakes it just perfumes the whole house with the scent of almond and nutmeg. It was our substitution to Christmas cake and still makes me think of Christmas whenever it bakes. Sunday lunch would always be a feast, with a “special menu”, most often of yellow rice and “special” curries. We often had extended family over and those lunches would just go on till evening.
My essential ingredients are eggs, kithul treacle, rice, spices and salt. Kithul treacle is a palm syrup, which I often use instead of sugar to add sweetness to dishes. The other ingredients are what we use most, salt and spices of course being mandatory when we cook. Rice is just a staple in Sri Lankan households, it’s so versatile.
Both kids love food. Evineth is more open to trying out new things and eats almost anything, while Ayara is slightly hesitant and takes issue with certain textures, but she loves cooking and eating. We have a sizeable garden (by urban standards) and we grow a few herbs, greens and veggies. So, they potter about in the garden, water the plants and weed. Until Covid brought about a massive lifestyle change, food shopping was always a family outing – they would push the cart, help select and weigh produce and pack the items into our bags.
Our meal time rules are around minimal or no food waste. I prefer the kids serving less, and then taking more, than wasting food. Also, veggies and proteins need to be eaten, especially at lunch time which is the most balanced (veg filled) meal we have.
Time-saving food hack: Use the freezer. We cook in bulk, portion and freeze. That’s just a life saver, as a meal can be scrounged together in about 15 minutes. Also invest in a rice cooker and air fryer if possible. They are the most used appliances in our house!
Sweet and Sour Pork
This recipe is inspired by my late grandmother’s recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork Chops. She used to serve fat slices of pineapple and pork chops, with was so decadently delicious. I’ve modernized the recipe and use pureed pineapple and bite sized pieces of pork. I love the fruity sweetness that the pureed pineapple brings to it. It’s also a modern, healthier twist to the classic sweet and sour. There’s no added oil as the pork is not deep fried and it uses the thoroughly old school Marmite (or Vegemite) for that lovely salty, umami flavour.
Serves 4-6 people
500g diced free-range pork
3 slices of fresh pineapple
1 tsp Marmite/Vegemite
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
Coriander
2 tsp lime juice
2 lime leaves (or zest of half a lime)
1 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp of sugar
1 tbsp jaggery (or palm sugar), grated
Salt, to taste
Coat the pineapple in sugar and cook in a hot pan. When the pineapple is soft, golden on the edges and smells deliciously fruity and sweet, remove from the pan. Allow to cool and blitz to a purée in a food processor/blender.
To make a marinade, mix soy sauce, half the tomato sauce, 2 tbsp pineapple purée, chilli flakes and salt.
Marinate the pork for at least two hours. The longer it marinates, the better. The acid in the pineapple will help the enzymes in the meat break down and make it really tender. Cover and keep in the fridge if marinating for longer than 2 hours.
Cook marinated pork in a hot pan, until browned.
Dissolve Marmite/Vegemite in 1/4 cup of hot water and add it to the pan. Add remaining pineapple purée, grated jaggery, lime juice, finely chopped cilantro stem, remaining tomato sauce and salt. Depending on the sweetness of the pineapple, you can add more grated jaggery to make it sweeter.
Cook until the sauce is thick and meat cooked through. Remove from heat, add fresh coriander leaves and finely chopped lime leaves (or zest). Mix through and serve hot. Serve with rice.
