Thirty Cent Fire

Yesterday - Tuesday - was my first experience of a Sri Lankan holiday as it was the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. In Sri Lanka, its a public and bank holiday and many businesses are closed. I spent the better part of yesterday making plans for the upcoming New Year holiday this weekend, and in the evening I continued to explore my neighborhood by walking around Galle Road. For dinner I decided to try a random street restaurant for some good ol' south Indian food. I forgot the name of the place but it was about a block south on Galle road from my apartment, and advertised as "Pure Vegetarian" on a large board above the shop. I ordered two idlys, with sambar and other assorted side items. I was please to see that my meal cost all of 30Rs, or thirty cents. The milkshake I got from the hotel bakery was double the cost of my food, the grand total checking in at 90Rs.

I had my food packed in newspaper and plastic bags for "Take Away", and I proceeded back to the hotel to dig in. The sambar looked normal and tasty though a little reddish in color. The chutney looked just like my mom makes, which I like, and the other two items I didn't get into (one looked like dhal). I submerged a piece of my idly in the sambar and took a bite - very tasty! I could get used to this for a quick, cheap dinner. However, about 5 bites in I thought I must have bit a chili or something as my mouth was hot. I quickly downed a glass of mango juice (I already took down the shake) to cool off, and proceeded to the next idly. Again, after about 3 bites my mouth was on FIRE. It was seriously one of the hottest Indian food dishes I've ever had. I went into that masochistic mode of continuing to eat despite tears rolling down the cheeks. I managed to finish both idlys and most of the sambar, though I'm now not quite sure why. Needless to say, Sri Lankan style food is very spicy and makes for an interesting experience. For 30 cents though, I'll certainly be going back for the experience.