The Okra Girl

06/02/2025

17/01/2025

Red rice, parippu, romanesque broccoli stir fried with pumpkin seeds, hedgehog mushrooms.

13/01/2025

Romanesque broccoli cross section slice sautéed in garlic served with some guacamole and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Easy and delicious meal.

Have not had much energy these days. I am feeling the pressure of the job search which has extended to way longer than I expected and I am struggling to find a flat to rent. There are days I just want to leave Europe for good and go home to Sri Lanka, but, there's my boyfriend and It will still be stressful relocating with my cat. I would need my own place, as the dogs will destroy her. Need to keep fighting 💪🏾 Find a job. Find a flat. Apply for Citizenship.

08/01/2025

Super delicious and healthy banana bread with oats, almond butter, flaxseed and other seeds ground, raisins and some egg and spelt flour to bind everything. Baked two. One for my aunt. This tastes so good as I used කෝලිකුට්ටු banana. No need for any added sweetener.
Had it with some naughty Spanish hot chocolate (Valor of course 😋) this morning.

27/12/2024

Made a delicious bûche de Noël following the recipe of Michelin star French chef Raymond Blanc. I could not get chestnuts nor candied chestnut, so I used pecans instead. The recipe requires 200 g nuts to 240 butter for the rum based buttercream. I might use less nuts next time to make it easier to decorate. The sponge came out just perfect this time (swipe for pics), and was super delicious infused with rum and then the rum infused buttercream.

23/12/2024

Baked this Christopsomo (Greek Christmas bread) and the house smells wonderful, filled with the aroma of anis. The bread contains walnuts and mahleb which add to the christmassy feel. Maybe I should have let it rise a bit more before ovening it but it was way fluffier than what I made two years ago.

Thank you for inviting me to participate in the

It's been a tough time as I relocated back to London and I am staying temporarily in a place that belongs to family until I find a job. I don't have my equipment nor am I putting up any decorations this year. Made do with the morning light!
Grateful to have a place to stay, but I miss having my own place. All my things are in storage except for some basic items of clothing and my climbing gear. Fingers crossed 🤞🏾 for a good job in 2025!

07/12/2024

One of the many Sri Lankan breakfasts. Boiled blackeyed peas (!කව්පි) with fresh grated coconut.

05/12/2024

Sita seems to approve. She likes to smell everything I eat or drink. Before you ask, no she doesn't get food which is unsuitable or toxic to cats. Rice, carrot in coconut milk and Sri Lankan spices, mukunuwenna omelette, stir fried Brussels sprouts and beyond meat vegetarian patty. Brussels sprouts is so delicious stir fried with some garlic and chilli flakes. Have you tried?

06/11/2024

One of my recent meals. As my Ayurvedic program comes to an end, I need to give a big shout out to and her team at Adhirekha Ayurveda Hospital. I came to Dr. Rekha as I was having very bad digestion issues and I had lost my period. I was getting bloated really badly by evening and my face was really puffy. I thought I maybe going through menopause. Anyway my stress levels were also very high.
I went on a three-month program with Adhirekha Ayurveda that included medication, diet plan and routines and I learned a lot about about my body and the things that trigger the symptoms I mentioned. I feel so much better now. No bloating, no regular indigestion and my sleep has improved. My period has not returned but the doctor assigned to me was very honest in stating that I should go on the hormone replacement therapy as I want to have a child.

The meal plan was very strict and the routines were very hard to follow in the beginning as they were taking so much time. However, her team was constantly there to encourage and support me to get on track. Now I know more about my body and I don't miss the things which I missed when I started the diet.

A big thank you 🌻🌻🌻