Waaaaaay back in July 2010, Fahim and I along with his sibs and their families and Fahim's parents were in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. Kurunegala is another major city in Sri Lanka.<br />
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One day, Fahim's mom took me, Fahim's sister and her kids to the Sunday market. I was glad to go because, honestly, Fahim's mom takes me to more interesting places in Sri Lanka than Fahim does. :P
The Sunday market is basically Sri Lanka's version of a farmer's market. And naturally, I took a scad of photos. Take a look...
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
See the Mickey Mouse? Personally? I doubt Disney gave that tiny little shop permission to use their trademarked character. But whatever. :)
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Here's Fahim's mom examining some fruit.
Below are more images from the Sunday market, but even more of them are in the album that's linked to at the bottom of every photo. Click on that link if you want to see more. :)
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
These two men are bent over a box, examining papayas.
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
The woman who's half-hidden by the white pillar is looking at banana flowers. Banana flowers are shaped sort of like a football and are a dark reddish brown. The other leaves are removed before the banana leaves are prepared for cooking. In with the banana leaves are immature bananas.
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Bananas galore. This is usually how bananas are presented in Sri Lanka - hanging on the stem. You point to which banana bunch you want and the shopkeeper cuts 'em off for you. These are mostly finger bananas - bananas that are around four inches long and relatively fat.
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Another view of the market with bananas and papayas to the right and a heap of bananas sitting on the ground to the left.
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Another view of the hanging bananas with papayas below them. You can also see avocados, wood apples, and guavas.
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Wing beans, or dambala. Also called four angled beans. They look like an x-fighter when cut across. Very common, very easy to find in Sri Lanka. They don't taste much like regular green beans, although I suppose they're not far from it, either. Gee, how descriptive? :P
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Leaves! Lots and lots of leaves! You know how, in the west, leafy vegetables like spinach, watercress, bok choy, lettuce in all of its varieties, kale, and so on are eaten? Leafy vegetables are widely eaten in Sri Lanka, too. They're just different leaves.
You've got your leeks and your gotakola, and your... Well, I don't know what most of them are called. Fahim does, but he's busy working and I can't disturb him when he's working. I mean, well, he's already disturbed - that's just his nature. But I can't disturb him disturb him... Never mind...
And there's beets and eggplant and capsicum (what you might know of as banana peppers) and carrots and...
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Coconuts! And bread fruit!
Bread fruit really doesn't taste like bread unless you mean its taste is as bland as bread and can go with just about anything like bread can. And it's starchy. But even in its sort of blandness, it's really good. Bland as in it doesn't punch you in the face with flavour. Does that make sense?
And coconuts - does that really need explaining? :P
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Dried red chillies at the far left, then bags of papadum and dried beans and lentils. Then at the end of the table, jackfruit on the floor along with sweet potatoes. To the right of the cash register, this stall is also selling soaps and washing powders and the like.
Dried red chillies are commonly found. Fresh red chillies, on the other hand, could not. I'd been looking for the entire ten years I lived in Sri Lanka - I use fresh red chillis to make sambal oelik, which I also cannot regularly buy in Sri Lanka. Alas, the sadness that is the lack of sambal oelik. :(
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Dried little fish. Sprats. Commonly spiced up and deep fried and delicious!
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
More dried fish, but bigger fish. All sorts of varieties, some whole fish, some cut fish. My mother in law will take dried fish and curry it. Very very yum. :)
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
More dried fish.
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| From Sri Lanka – Kurunegala Market |
Rambutan! It's a funny little fruit. You peel off the outside, which is sort of rubbery, to get to the inside, which is sort of similar to lychee, but with a big stone in the centre.
