Sinhala Avurudu (Sri Lankan New year) in Sri Lanka

When I was a child, every Sinhala Avurudu (which fell during mid April) our whole family used to visit my Dad's ancestral home in Udubadana where my paternal grandparents lived. My Mom used to supervise the preparation of traditional sweetmeats for the Sinhala Avurudu which was the traditional new year period.One of her specialities was undu walalu (these were deep fried rings made out of ground undu gram) after frying and draining they were placed in a pot of kitul treacle to absorb the sweet treacle. The preparation was from scratch so the undu gram seeds had to be soaked overnight and ground into a paste and they were fermented by the time the batter was made incorporating rice flour. The thick batter was squeezed out into a pan of hot oil through a button hole which had been sewn into the middle of a tea cloth.

My mom's other speciality were little cakes which were baked in small tins with frilly edges. In the bakeries they were sold as 'ispongee cakes' but the variety that my mother made at home were far superior in taste. So my mom had a huge batch of undu walalu and ispongee cake made to take to our grandparents home each Avurudu Season.

Since we lived in Peradeniya (close to Kandy) and our grandparents lived in Udubadana further up in the mountains about 50 miles away we started our journey in the morning and reached Udubadana about 3hours later around noontime. The journey was all uphill through the hill country of Sri Lanka which was mostly full of tea plantations with some areas populated by pinus forests. Our Dad used to recall his childhood stories of his experiences growing up as we continued on our long journey in my Dad's light blue fiat car with a hood rack attached. Onetime my younger brother got motion sickness as my Dad negotiated the numerous elbow bends. So we used to always carry cream crackers on these journeys to conteract any motion sickness.

Sometimes there were little kids (possibly from the tea estates or farms) that used to run up from one bend to the next crying 'Nona , nona' begging for food or money. So we used to stop and give them some food or money. There were also kids along the wayside who used to sell the beautiful wildflowers that thrived in the cooler climes of the mountains.

My brother and I quickly learnt the names of the waterfalls and mountain passes that we encountered along the way, Ramboda Falls, Ramboda Pass.

Celebrating my 6th Birthday Sri Lankan style

My parents were busy preparing for my 6th Birthday. Both my Mom and Dad stayed up the night before icing the two ribbon cakes that I took the following morning to share with my Kindergarten mates at the Kandy Convent. The ribbon cake was in 3 layers pink, yellow and light blue if I remember correctly. The butter icing on top was also in pastel colors.

I wore a special silky maroon dress with a smocked bodice that my Mom had made for me. The sleeves were puffed. I remember how I went to the upstairs of the Kandy market to select the fabric for the dress.

My dad dropped me and my brother off at kindergarten along with the two cakes. All the children gathered round in a circle in the room which had an open wall which was covered by an iron grid. One of the cakes was placed in the middle of the circle and every one sang happy birthday to me. The teachers cut the cake into small pieces and shared it with all the children. However, I did note that the teacher did not cut the second cake and probably took the whole cake home!

Over the weekend, I had another party at home. Once again my Mom baked me another cake but it was not a ribbon cake this time. I much preferred the ribbon cake. To my party at home we invited our 3 cousins and uncle and aunt who lived in Kandy. I think we had kavum (oil cakes) but I don't remember what else we had that day.