Once, while travelling in Sri Lanka, we decided to opt for a little bit of luxury for a few days and checked into a place called the Norlanka hotel in the south of the island at Unawatuna. It was a fine new place set in a peaceful garden and all the rooms had wee balconies. The name Norlanka is a made from a bit of Norway and a bit of Sri Lanka and that's exactly what you get when you meet the lovely couple who own the place. It's only a minute or two to the beach and we divided our time between swimming and sunbathing at the beach and sitting in the shady garden watching monkeys and birds (and eating, of course). When we arrived at the Norlanka, there was a big monitor lizard sitting by the gate. I checked every day after that but didn't see it again.
We were always on the lookout for opportunities to try traditional home-style Sri Lankan food, and the food at the Norlanka was just that. The cooking was superb. This was one of those places, quite common in Sri Lanka, where they don't offer a menu, but just ask if you're having dinner with them and what time you want it. And of course, being a Buddhist country, no one is surprised if you ask for vegetarian. We ordered dinner every day and usually round about mid-afternoon, when the first stirrings of appetite began, we'd start wondering what treats were in store for us that evening. We'd turn up punctually at the agreed time and rich mouth-watering smells would be drifting from the kitchen. The evening we had the aubergine salad, we also enjoyed pumpkin curry with coconut gravy, dhal, rice and popadoms. The portions were huge and it was hard work getting through everything, but we applied ourselves dilligently to the task. It was so delicious and the dining are opened onto the garden which made having dinner an even more enjoyable experience.
This is a simple and quick recipe. There were no hot chillies in the original dish, which is quite unusual for a Sri Lankan recipe (there were chillies in everything else on the table, though). I've since tried it with chilli and the result is very nice, so let me suggest chilli as an optional ingredient for those who like things hot.
A couple of small aubergines (or one big one)
1 small onion (a red one if you can find it)
2 tomatoes
Juice of half a lime
A few salad leaves
1 or 2 green chillies
(optional)
Salt
A little oil for frying
Cut the aubergines lengthways and then cut the pieces into 1 cm thick slices. Fry in a little olive oil at a fairly high temperature for a few minutes until the pieces are browning then dump them out on to a plate and leave to cool while you prepare the other veg.
Slice the onion and chillies finely, shred the salad leaves and chop the tomato. Mix everything together adding the lime juice and salt and there you have it: yummy Sri Lankan aubergine salad.