from BEARDO's kitchen : Katta Salted Fish Curry ...... a Sri Lankan version

 

Katta Salted Fish Curry

I was in Sri Lanka two weeks ago, and managed to get fresh salted fish from Kudawella, a fishing village in South Sri Lanka. I got both their speciality salted fish the Katta (Queenfish) Salted Fish and the Southern Bluefin Tuna (a rarity in this part, hence its price). 

Today I am going to cook the Katta Salted Fish curry. Below are the ingredients for today's cuisine. From the top, the pounder with pounded black pepper, baby potatoes (you can use any type of potatoes), Chilly Powder, Thatta Payir (Black eyed peas), coconut milk, Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Tumeric powder, Fenugreek seed, Chopped onion, garlic & green Chillies, Chopped tomatoes & Brinjal, Tamarind and in the centre is the Katta Salted fish.

The Ingredients

Make sure you soak the Katta fish in room temperature water and soak the black eyed peas in hot water for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Transfer the Katta Fish in a Wok

(You can also use Mud pot for this dish)

Transfer the remaining items

Firstly transfer the Katta Fish, Chopped Onion/garlic/green chilly, potatoes, brinjal, black eyed pea, coriander powder, tumeric powder and chille powder.

Coconut Milk

Then pour the coconut milk in the wok and stir well. Let the the chilly powder, coriander powder and turmeric mix well. 

Finally you can fire up the stove, and let the main ingredients to cook. You can put a lid on so that it cooks well. 

Stir Well

Cover the Wok with Lid

Then add tomatoes and let it cook for 5 minutes. After that add fenugreek seeds, cumin powder and pounded pepper and allow it to cook for another 5 minutes. 

Curry Leaves

Almost there, add curry leaves to enhance the flavour. Taste for salt, since it's salted fish this should be done towards the end.

If everything is good, viola Katta Salted Fish curry, the Singhalese way, is ready to be served. Did you notice something........I did not use oil at all. That is a speciality of this dish.

Tonight dinner was, Katta Salt Fish curry with Brinjal Paal curry (Brinjal Coconut Milk curry) with stir fry spinach. It was indeed yummy.

If you are thinking about the oil in the cooking, well the coconut we used in the cooking tonight would be more than enough to cover it. 

So everyone, please do try this simple cuisine and do let me know.

Until the next time....

Cheers.

ravivarmmakkanniappan@2229201220243.0567° N, 101.5851° E 

 

 

FEAR

Sunset at Cinnamon Island, Koggala Lake, Sri Lanka

I was inspired to write this piece after my recent encounter with FEAR in Sri Lanka. A feeling that was long forgotten by me, caught up with my existential self.

I was in a situation recently that should have put me in the utmost fear. But for whatever reason, the fear did not engulf me, instead, my entire focus was channeled towards getting out of that tight spot as best as my roommate and I could. Even after out of danger, my friend and I together with the rest were focused in making sure all of us got out safely.

Well, only after an hour out of harm’s way, my legs started to wobble a little. I guess the adrenaline rush just then was weaning off.

Fear is a natural psychological reaction when one is caught in a situation which they are not in control of. However, what is most important is not so much the fear itself but how we handle this fear. I still remember making a ruckus wanting to go back while watching the movie Gumnaam (a Hindi movie), so my Pappa had to bring me back home, while my Amma and Aunty continued watching the movie. Mind you this happened in 1966 when I was a mere 3year old, and I can still vividly remember it till today, such is the power of fear.

But of course I have come past that a long time ago. But retrospectively looking at life, I have come across some of the most defining moments, and fear following me throughout.  However, what made the difference was the way I handled it to-date.

What is the worst that can happen to one, ultimately it is death.  If one can accept death and does not fear the inevitable death, then there is nothing to fear, at all. 

The Buddha in his teachings had emphasized the practice of Maranasati or the mindfulness of death as a way to confront and accept mortality. In the conversation between Yudishithira and Yaksha in the Mahabharatha (the episode of Yaksha Prashna), one question posed was, “What is the greatest wonder in the world?” Yudhishithira’s answer was, “Day after Day, countless creatures go to the abode of Yama (death), yet those who remain desire to live forever. This is the greatest wonder.”

According to psychologists, fear is basically an emotional response triggered by a specific perceived threat. The brain’s amygdala and hypothalamus kick in to survival mode where the body could respond in 3 ways:  FIGHT, FLIGHT or FREEZE. At that point the adrenaline and cortisol rush would determine how one manages the threat. Interestingly the fear of the known seem to be easier to manage than the fear of the unknown. I guess when one is dealing with a known threat, the hindsight knowledge one has allows the person to better prepare, rationalize and cope with the impending threat. Whereas when the fear culminates from a threat that is unknown, it definitely creates uncertainty and a lack of control to the person and eventually amplifying anxiety.

Greeja and I were once caught in the Trafalgar Square, during a London Mob (it’s London, so anytime is a good time for a bovver), an experience we will never forget. It was extremely overwhelming, people running in all directions, and with both the perpetrators and enforcement personnel engaging head on. In the midst of the chaos the most likely thing that can happen is both of us may get separated, which we did for a good 5 minutes, when someone just shoved his way between us which broke our clutched hands. I turned around and within minutes Greeja was out of my sight. The fear of something happening to her made me break out in a sweat, but thank God she was pushed to a wall and I managed to reach her and we started walking the opposite direction away from the mob. But for that moment the fear of losing her engulfed me, though just minutes before we got separated we did agree, that in the event we  do get separated,  we will not waste our time looking for each other in the riot but will head straight to our hotel and meet up there.

Thus were some of the moments in my life where I faced some of the worst fears. But it is nothing compared to many historical figures who saw death staring straight into their eyes and yet they continued to strife to pursue their course. Alexander Solzhenitsyn who faced brutality and certain death whilst imprisoned in the Russian Gulag by the order of Stalin, continued to write exposing Stalin’s totalitarianism. Or for that matter, nothing compares to the sacrifice of Kuyili, the Commander in chief of the Udaiyal Womens Army to Rani Velu Naatchiyaar in 1780. Where Kuyili, applied ghee to her body, self-immolated and jumped into the British Ammunition depot in Sivagangga, Tamil Nadu, which gave Rani Velu Natchiyaar the advantage to defeat the British and the Nawab of Arcot. I dared not imagine what ran in the mind of Kuyili, at that moment when she decided to leap into the arsenal ablaze.

Kaarthigai Deepam 2024, Thiruvannamalai, India.

(Photo courtesy from Jyothi TV Live Drone Video)

These are moments where the “FEAR” of a bigger call diminishes the individuals “fear” of an imminent threat or even death.

I would end my thought with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”

Hence my only hope is, next time when I am in a tight spot which threatens my existence, I would have the wisdom to exercise that FIVE MINUTES.

Cheers.

The Full Moon on Kaarthigai Deepam

13 December 2024

(Subang Jaya)

ravivarmmankkanniappan@2014121920243.0567° N, 101.5851° E

 

SOMETIMES

The Jacket

And I thought I am going to lose it forever. This was the second time I had to endure that thought. 

We just checked into a hotel, and I was getting ready to have my bath, when my room mate walked in, and we started to have a conversation. Suddenly there was this loud hissing noise as though of a major gas leak coming from outside. Out of curiousity my room mate opened the room door to inspect, to be greeted with a frantic voice shouting "FIRE FIRE, PLEASE LEAVE THE ROOM and GO DOWN using the FIRE STAIRCASE". Confused of course but realising the imminent danger, my room mate and I grabbed our little bags which had our passports and other important documents and ran towards the Fire staircase. I was half naked, (thank God it was the top half), but my roomate was fully clothed as he had just stepped in just now, before the commotion. 

We were on the 6th Floor of the hotel, and by the time we reached the 3rd floor staircase, the lights went off, and it was pitch dark. Luckily both of us had our phones, and we progressed to the ground floor with the light from the phone torch light. At that point we were the only ones climbing down the staircase with hotel staffs going up, perhaps to evecuate the others. By the time we came to the ground floor lobby, there was already thick smoke greeting us. We made a dash to the the street with hotel staff ushering us. 

We made a head count to check whether our other comrades were out, slowly one by one emerged from the smoky lobby with other hotel guests. All were out except 3. We were frantic, we informed the hotel staff about them. Our main concern was one of our mates who owing to stroke a few years ago has a slight mobility impairment. After a good 10 minutes all 3 of them emerged from the lobby, where by now there was already a thick smoke bellowing from both from the lobby and the 7th floor. The fire department came soon after and their attention was targetted in rescuing a guest who was stuck on the 6th floor. He was eventually rescued through the window. No casualty was reported with serious injuries except for the rescued guests and one of our mates who had some breathing difficulty was sent to the hospital via ambulance for examination and observation. To our relief, our mate who had to spend a night in the hospital was discharged the next day with a clean bill of health.

Our journey of friendship began in 1983 in USM, Penang and slowly this relationship became an eternal bond that saw us through thick and thin. Of the 31 comrades only 14 of us participated in this outing. 

We were more concerned for each other than thinking about ourselves during the crisis. As for me the reflection of the crisis only sat in last night, and started thinking about the "what if" scenarios. It did bring a spine-chilling thought.

My jacket had taken me places and has kept me company for a long time. I hung the jacket in the cubboard as I came into the hotel room. The poor "fellow" endured the heat and smoke and survived. I shouted hurrah the next day when the hotel staff brought down guests' belongings, when I saw my Jacket was intact. Unfortunately one of my mates lost his watch, and he was visibly upset as the watch was of sentimental value to him. I can empathize with him and such a loss is not easy to digest nor accept. Some might ask, "What's the big deal? After all, we should be grateful that nothing serious had happened to us." But it's not that simple to unravel these feelings. Emotions can run far deeper than mere relief.

Beyond that, the thought of losing one another was defintely playing in all our minds, though none of us spoke about it. 

நட்பு என்னும் நூலால் பின்னிய மலர் மாலையை,
தவறி விழுந்தால் எட்டிக் கொண்டிட முடியாது.
அதைச் சிறுத்தி விடுவது பயமாகும்

    

The Garland Woven with the Thread of Friendship,

If it Slips and Falls, Cannot Be Picked Up Whole.

The Fear of it Breaking Keeps One Holding on Tightly.

The above poem speaks volume on the nature of friendship and the fear of losing a friend. Beyond fear this incident, without doubt had conjured profound awareness on the fragility of LIFE and reminding us not to take anything for granted. It made us realize that life can change in an instant, hence telling us to cherish every moment in a relationship. It created an avenue to value friendship and aprreciate the present and finding strengths in connections that transcend transient challenges.

SOMETIMES the thought of merely losing a jacket is only an external manifestation of an internal call to reconcile oneself with the notion of gratitude, compassion and embrace the fleeting beauty of life with humility and love. 

Bopath Waterfalls, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka

But all things said and done, the final words before we parted were, "Let's plan for the next overseas trip." This ecapsulates the true spirit of our brotherhood. Despite everything, our bond remained strong and instead of dwelling on what had transpired on this trip, we were already looking forward to the next adventure.

CHEERS to friendship that doesn't just endure but thrives on the future and new beginnings.  

.......sometimes........

ravivarmmankkanniappan@1517081220243.0567° N, 101.5851° E