The Many Names of Brinjal
If there’s one vegetable that Sri Lanka has made me even more crazy about, it’s brinjal. To the Americans, it’s also known as eggplant. For Europeans, it’s aubergine.
Growing up, I harbored an intense dislike for eggplant. I suppose it all started when I was playing one of the best games released during the original Nintendo’s early years, Kid Icarus. It featured a winged Greek child (this is the Kid Icarus) slaying walking eggplants with a bow and arrow. Naturally, I identified with Kid Icarus and adopted his stance against the purple vegetable.
It was only in the summer of 2003 that I decided to experiment with baked eggplant parmigiana. It was okay. Then Liz and I frequently tried to make an eggplant dish, but it invariably involved tomatoes and feta cheese; no matter how many receipes we tried, it tasted, well, dull.
But in Sri Lanka–it’s all about the curry. I’ve taken to specifically requesting brinjal curry whenever I order rice and curry for dinner at the Beach Inns, and any school lunch (already a scrumptious delight) becomes sublime if brinjal is on the menu. I have loved it so much that I made sure it was a clue for Nerissa and David’s son’s treasure hunt (”What are two other names for brinjal?”).
It is with regret that I leave this vegetable behind, and everything else about Sri Lanka as I sit here in the internet cafe at the Bandaranaike International Airport. I know, I’m only gone from this country for nine days.
But today felt like some horrible preview of my ultimate departure date sometime next June. I said goodbye to the children (they all bowed down), to Thusharra my driver, to the Beach Inns staff, to my friends. My eyes were wet as I left the school even while I was thinking, “Damn it, it’s just nine days.”
I went three whole weeks without seeing the kids last month, so what’s a week and half? In this interconnected world we live in, a plane ride halfway across the globe isn’t really so different than driving into Lanka’s central highlands, right? But that knowledge didn’t make my good-byes easier.
Nerissa and David both said to me, “Please make sure you come back!” I was genuinely surprised to hear this.
How could I not? There’s more brinjal to be had here, more English words to teach, more holy sites and cities to visit, more vehicles to test-drive, more reefs to explore…
Don’t worry, I’m definitely coming back.
MMM. eggplant. one of my favorite vegetables. But you’re right, just using tomatoes & feta doesn’t do it justice. As I’ve been experimenting myself with all kinds of flavor, and curry does it justice. Eggplant is a misunderstood vegetable.
I’m truly amazed at how much you’re learning while you’re over there. You’ve evolved into this whole ‘nother person that was hiding inside of you. I’m glad you’re able to share how much you know with these kids that deserve it.
Adorable Damnation Brinjals!
Brinjals!!!
Ahhhh. Having grown up in India, just north of SriLanka, I hated brinjals, curried or fried. I sacrificed dessert and put up with threats of eternal damnation from my parents, but they could NEVER make me like the horrible piece of $#%.
So, then I migrate to the US, and my first summer here, since I wasn’t able to work outside of college, I was forced to live with my cousins. One day, at a typically huge family lunch, I served myself some rice and what looked like lamb curry. It smelled great! Two spoons down the hatch and I was hooked. It tasted great, but I still had no idea what I was eating. I then asked my cousin what it was, and she said. “brinjal curry…made the south indian way!” I didn’t even gag! In fact I went back for more. If my mom was there, I’m sure she would have fainted or at the least given me a lecture about giving her grief when I was young.
Go figure!
eggplant curry is my favorite. IF and when you come back.. i must take you to thai roma on PA ave and have u taste their eggplant pad thai.. its nothing like indian or south indian eggplant curry- but it does america some justice.
xo,
sasha