Anne Marie Kellar
Having grown up in the notorious seventies in Sri Lanka, a period called ‘Austerity’, when having wealth did not matter because everyone got the same rations of essential food items and underwent the same difficulties and shortages, I’ve learned to value everything I have.
Most homemakers at the time began experimenting in their kitchens, developing recipes like Condensed Milk Cake, (which did not require the precious rationed sugar), Pumpkin Wattalappan, Carrot Seeni Sambol (which did not need that many of the rationed onions), Faux Peaches in syrup made with the skins of passion fruit and several other truly delicious dishes. Necessity, after all, is the mother of invention!
The current global crisis has led to severe shortages of essential items, compelling us to ‘make do’ with whatever we can get our hands-on. And it’s only going to get worse! When ports are restricted, ships bringing food and medicines are delayed due to restrictions in various countries, and as a result, inevitably there will be severe shortages ahead for all of us, unless by some miracle this deadly virus just disappears or we develop enough immunity to fight it soon.
It is imperative we learn to make the most of what we have, not waste anything, and stock up on whatever we can in reasonable quantities.
Always have a few weeks’ supplies of rice, sugar, dhal, dried fish, canned food, onions in stock. Do not forget condiments! Flour is a lifesaver as it can be turned into bread, rotis, etc.
When buying turnips, radish, beetroot, cauliflower or broccoli, thinly slice the leaves and stems and stir fry them with some garlic and a dash of soy sauce or even some chilli flakes and onions and you have another delicious accompaniment to your rice.
Eggs are another lifesaver! Beat up a few with some onions, green chillies, Maldive fish chips and salt and steam them in a bowl till firm.
Drop cubes of this into a pot of simmering curry gravy and allow to cook for a few minutes more. This goes a much longer way than just simply frying or boiling the eggs.
Every store cupboard has canned fish. Very economical dishes can be turned out with these. Curry, Sambol, Devilled, Cutlets, Rolls. Saute some onions, garlic and curry leaves and add flaked fish, some mashed potatoes, green chillies, tomatoes and spices. Slice some hard-boiled eggs in half lengthwise. Place some fish filling on top of each half, in place of the other half, and form an egg-shaped ‘cutlet’. Crumb and fry. A tin of Mackerel, two potatoes and 10 eggs will give you 20 delicious Egg Cutlets which will feed a family for dinner with some bread and butter, with leftovers too!
Everyone loves pasta and noodles. I always have some bacon ends in my freezer. A quick satisfying dish is Spaghetti Carbonara. Brown some bacon ends, add some garlic, and then just add the hot cooked pasta along with a little of the pasta water, then pour in some beaten eggs, put off the fire and stir briskly along with some good strong cheese, salt and black pepper. An awesome dish with a delicious creamy sauce.
Pasta can also be turned into so many ‘one-pot’ meals with some canned tuna, minced beef or chicken, or thawed out meatballs or sliced sausage etc, a few vegetables and some imagination!
Stir fry some carrots, leeks/onions, garlic, cabbage ( and whatever other suitable vegetables you have in your fridge that are getting rather old), add some beaten eggs, a dollop of chilli paste and some soy sauce and then finally add some cooked noodles for a satisfying and nutritious meatless dish.
Always grow kangkung, mukunwenna and gotukola in pots. They are so easy to grow. Just stick some stems in a pot of rich soil with plenty of compost. Water generously and in no time you’ll have an instant supply of greens available to you. Just snip off what you need and they will keep on giving new shoots.
Curry leaves, Rampe (pandan) and lemongrass are also so easy to grow in pots even on a balcony or roof garden. Fresh herbs like basil and chives add so much taste to a dish.
Tomatoes, Okra, Long bean, Chillies are all vegetables I’ve grown in pots very successfully. Pineapples can be grown in pots from the spiky stalks at the top of each plant, and spinach from the white stem.
COVID-19 is teaching the whole world a lesson. Especially those who were born in the 80s and later. We 70s kids overcompensated by ensuring that our children had everything imaginable. They cannot deal with this crisis and the lack of supplies! If something broke, they threw it out. We, on the other hand, repaired it.
‘Affluent’ countries have/had the same attitude. So much waste. This time is an eye-opener for them all. They cannot look down at us any more. There is no flour on their supermarket shelves either!
While the entire world is now in lockdown, let’s examine the world around us and find ways to reuse, recycle, eliminate waste. Let us treat every single thing we have as a blessing.
