Hathmaaluwa-හත්මාලුව
recipe from sabaragamuwa for the sinhala new year
This is the recipe for the most important dish of the Sinhala/Hindu New Year celebration meal partaken by folks in Sabaragamuwa...I learnt this from my mother..Usually this is the main dish we prepare for the auspicious time celebrating new year rituals in Sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka. It contains seven main ingredients representing leaves, nuts, yams, stems, fruits, vegetables and considered as a vegetarian preparation but you can add flakes of Maldive fish (උම්බලකඩ)
Seven Ingredients are:
Ash Plantain -අලුකෙහෙල්
long beans-මෑ කරල්
aubergine -වම්බටු
sweet potato-බතල
Kaju-අමුකජු
Jack fruit nuts කොස් ඇට
young leaves of pumpkin- වට්ටක්කා දලු
Usually the quantities of the above ingredients are depending on the number of people share the new year meal and in our house we cook this for 10 to 15 guests and family members. If you consider using 500g each of the main ingredients (except the pumpkin leaves of which you need only 100g) the meal will be enough to serve 10 to 15 people.
Prepare all the ingredients in the usual way you cook them as curry (break the pumpkin leaves by hand into one inch long pieces).
Place all the main ingredients in a large pot and add red onions, green chili, garlic, cinnamon, penugric seeds, turmeric powder, non roasted curry powder, chili powder and flakes of Maldive fish, proportionately for the volume of the whole dish as you prepare a vegetable curry, and mix them well.
Add second extract of milk from a medium size coconut but keep in mind the vegetables create juices when they cook so do not add lot of water into the second extract.
Cook on medium heat until the nuts are soft and add the first extract of the coconut and simmer down until the gravy become creamy.
This dish is very well goes with Milk Rice for breakfast with Sinhalese Achcharu and will be the main curry for your New Year lunch Menu.
