TRAVEL WRITING PROMPT. SRI LANKA. FOOD.
My First Pittu
But it was not the last!
All images and video by the author.
I was not in Sri Lanka 48 hours when I met Raj. I tentatively entered his little café, Hikkaduwa Temptations, and asked to see a menu. This is what I do when I want to check out the menu items and the prices without committing to eating.
The café was empty, and he had time to chat. Raj was sincerely friendly, which, I discovered, is not unusual in Sri Lanka. We talked about Sri Lankan food, and I asked about some menu items (rotti and pittu, in particular).
After asking many questions, I decided that pittu sounded pretty exotic and different from anything I had eaten before. When I said I would come back later in the afternoon when I was hungrier, he volunteered to let me watch him prepare the vegetable pittu. So, we arranged that I would return at a time when he would not be too busy.
Four o’clock found me walking up and down the highway trying to find Raj’s café again. There are so many little eateries along this main road in Hikkaduwa that they all kind of looked the same to a new visitor. I finally found it, and there was Raj, greeting me like we were old friends. A couple of other parties were dining, but he brought me back to his magical kitchen to watch.
First, he explained that the water had been turned off while some construction was being done on the property behind the café. It must be a little challenging to run a kitchen with no water, but he had some buckets of clean water and was making do. Apparently, this happens quite often.
Pittu is made in a special pittu steamer. It is a funny-looking contraption. With its chimney-shaped lid, it reminded me of the samovars in Kyrgyzstan. But it has an entirely different function. You put water in the bottom part and bring it to a boil. Then you drop the pittu mix into the top “chimney.”
Raj made a mixture of red rice flour, salt, and a small amount of water. Then he sliced and grated vegetables into thin slivers — carrot, onion, and cabbage and tossed them into the crumbly mix. “Three vegetables is good,” he informed me. You can use any vegetable combinations you want.
He dropped handfuls of the dough into the “chimney” part of the pittu steamer.
It surprised me that it only takes five to ten minutes for the pittu to cook. You know it is finished when it shrinks down into the tube. Raj carefully pushed the cylinder out onto my plate and added some dal curry on the side. This was to be the first of countless meals I would enjoy at Hikkaduwa Temptations.
In the next two and a half months, we shopped, cooked, feasted, laughed, drank tea, celebrated, and worked together. Before I left Sri Lanka, I made a tribute video about my experiences with my extraordinary friend Raj.
Unfortunately, when the Covid pandemic hit Sri Lanka, Hikkaduwa Temptations had to close. Many people will miss this little café and its charismatic manager.
Turning my favorite pastimes (like cooking) into thematic travel possibilities provides a way to engage with the culture and meet people. Learn more in the Cathleen’s Odyssey Ultimate Guide to Thematic Travel.
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