Chilis and Cricket

"Eat it very slowly," K urged as I started diving into my Sri Lankan food. I had before me a tray filled with tiny portions of dal, eggplant and tomatoes, fish curry and coconut sambal loaded to the hilt with minced chilis. K ordered pittu, which is a mass of bread flour and coconut to which you add the various side dishes, and I had string hoppers, which were smallish discs of vermicelli noodles which are meant to be soaked in an incredibly spicy coconut milk gravy and also eaten with the side dishes. The food was incredibly tasty, but unbearably hot. I wanted to slurp up the entire plate, but knew that I shouldn't, as my palate and stomach simply weren't accustomed to such things. We got some plain yogurt on the side to temper the heat. K was sweating profusely, wiping his entire face and head every few seconds. Despite being Sri Lankan himself, he wasn't accustomed to the heat quotient. We ordered a milk dosa for me, as a way to cool off. It was absolutely delicious. A very thin rice flour crepe pan fried into the shape of a bowl and painted in the middle with sweet, thickened coconut milk. It was just a small amount of milk and not as sweet as most desserts, so I allowed myself a splurge. In the middle it was soft and dense, and on the outsides it was crispy. Wow. On the TV there was a cricket match between England and Sri Lanka. I didn't like it as much as rugby, but was glad for the exposure. In fact, I was glad for K, and his willingness to show me so many different facets of this town. We were in the part of Wembly that was mostly Guajarati Indian, which tends to be mostly vegetarian. There is also an influx of Sri Lankan places to the neighborhood, so most of the places say S. Indian and Sri Lankan. It's sort of like Chinatown in L.A.'s San Gabriel Valley. Too many choices you'd never know what to do unless you're escorted around by a local. I really lucked out with my roommates. I don't think I could ever have this cultural tour otherwise.