Yesterday was one of those days that just went super-fast, one thing after another. I made Sri Lankan lunch for six, cooking way too much, just as my mother trained me — you want an abundance of food at a party, so no one hesitates to go back for seconds.
– Sri Lankan red rice & basmati rice, with saffron and sultanas
– tamarind pork curry
– classic chicken curry
– curried beets with green chili and coconut milk
– kale salad with coconut, onion, & cherry tomatoes
– mushrooms sautéed in butter, curry powder, and lime
– chili leeks
– yogurt (just in case it was still too spicy for anyone)
– toasted naan (from Whole Foods)
– mango fluff for dessert (not pictured)
I cooked the pork curry Thursday night, but the rest was cooked Friday morning in a bit of a mad frenzy. It would’ve been calmer, but I had a Serendib Zoom meeting in the middle of the morning, and not one I could skip, since we’re prepping for launch of Vegan Serendib on Tuesday! It felt weirdly appropriate that I was cooking throughout that meeting. 
I was in a bit of a strange mood all day, I think because it was my mother’s birthday. Amma has moved to a memory care facility, and while we’re still figuring it all out, it’s looking like she’s probably going to need to continue living there, for her own health and safety. She isn’t able to answer the phone and understand me at this point; I thought about trying to call, but I didn’t think there’d be any point to it. I’m not sure she really recognizes me when I come to visit.
But my sister and her family were able to visit yesterday, along with my aunt and her son, and the staff took a nice photo of them all. I wish Amma could’ve joined us for lunch yesterday. She would have liked tasting the food — the chicken curry and leeks in particular, are exactly how she used to make them. All my cooking skills — the flavors, the complexity, the ability to cook masses of food at speed — start with her.
