Lunu Miris - Ella, Sri Lanka
Lunu Miris
In Sri Lanka, Lunu Miris is an essential accompaniment to most meals. It is an extremely spicy fresh (uncooked) condiment whose main ingredient is a handful of dried red chillies or miris. The other significant ingredient lunu (pronounced loo-nu) is small red onions.
Lunu miris is made by grinding the chillies in a pestle and mortar together with the onions, some salt and a smattering of dried fish (a popular ingredient in Sri Lankan cuisine referred to locally as "Maldive Fish"). The dish is finished off with a healthy squeeze of lime juice.
A related form is Katta Sambol which is prepared without the onions, making it drier and more potent, consisting as it does of almost entirely of crushed chillies.
Lunu Miris or Katta Sambol is often served as an accompaniment to the popular trio of Sri Lankan breakfast dishes: Pol Roti (coconut flat bread), Kiributh (rice cooked in milk), and Egg Hoppers (a crispy pancake, optionally with a fried egg). It is also frequently available as an accompaniment to boiled white rice, served invariably at lunch or supper
The pungent taste of Lunu Miris, which is eaten only in very small quantities, helps to liven up the starchiness of the rice and bread that it accompanies.
Lunu miris is made by grinding the chillies in a pestle and mortar together with the onions, some salt and a smattering of dried fish (a popular ingredient in Sri Lankan cuisine referred to locally as "Maldive Fish"). The dish is finished off with a healthy squeeze of lime juice.
A related form is Katta Sambol which is prepared without the onions, making it drier and more potent, consisting as it does of almost entirely of crushed chillies.
Lunu Miris or Katta Sambol is often served as an accompaniment to the popular trio of Sri Lankan breakfast dishes: Pol Roti (coconut flat bread), Kiributh (rice cooked in milk), and Egg Hoppers (a crispy pancake, optionally with a fried egg). It is also frequently available as an accompaniment to boiled white rice, served invariably at lunch or supper
The pungent taste of Lunu Miris, which is eaten only in very small quantities, helps to liven up the starchiness of the rice and bread that it accompanies.