Broccoli is an exotic vegetable in Sri Lanka too but they are increasingly available in supermarkets (although the prices are high).
For me many types of grapes and berries, asparagus, kale, brussels sprouts , and herbs like thyme, tarragon, oregano…
tadgola is abundant in the North, North East, and East of the country. In other areas coconut is a common tree. You will find “king coconuts” (the orange colour one) sellers by almost every main road here.
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@Harters and @BKeats Did you know that anything you despise tastes alright when deep fried? lol I used to hate okra, never ate it, but then someone had deep fried it and it tasted nice. I eat okra or bitter gourd only if deep fried 
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Okra develops its slime from contact with water while cooking. Deep-frying avoids this.
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On broccoli, George H.W. Bush is reported to have greatly disliked broccoli. Since he and I shared a birthday, one year I invited him to my home for our birthday. I was a USG employee at the time with lots of security clearances and had met him once at a local Italian restaurant he liked and to which he would sneak out. I received a very nice hand written note from his social secretary that Mr. Bush was otherwise engaged. My security officer at work came to ask me why there was a special request about me from the White House. grin I always think of Mr. Bush when I eat broccoli.
Although I never met him, Sri Lanka always brings to mind the memory of Arthur C. Clarke.
Given my thinking processes, through your posts here broccoli will now make me think of Sri Lanka.
Not particularly uncommon, but for some reason I did not knowingly encounter fennel until midlife when it showed up in a CSA box. “What is this thing that looks like an upside down water tower?” I quite like it. It will however always strike me as exotic.
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I was under the impression that Arthur C Clarke was a Sri Lankan, that he had the citizenship. That’s what Sri Lankans said, and believed, and still believe. Turns out he was still a British citizen although he lived in Sri Lanka.
Broccoli is grown in Nuwara Eliya the cold climate area in Sri Lanka but small scale.
Sri Lanka coming to mind when you see broccoli is no surprise if you know about the national symbol of the country. Sri Lankan flag has a lion. And the majority indigenous Sri Lankan race “Sinhala” to which I belong, means “lion blood.” But Sri Lanka has never had a single lion in the wild, except the poor scrawny lion that’s living in a tiny cage in the zoo.
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Dragon fruit is a good income fruit in Sri Lanka. The agricultural department provides loans to grow them. You need a mid-country land in excess of quarter of an acre to qualify. But the hardest part is protecting it from thieves. They don’t steal them to sell, but they pick them and eat when they are ripe. That’s a big problem.
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Pithaya is grown in the Canary Islands and Huelva ( the most Southwest Autonomous Region), Spain at “ecological level” … They are red with a white interior with the tiny black dots.
My farmer´s market has them from time to time. (Usually late spring). Photo by my dear and dessert I had prepared.
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It is my understanding that Sri Lanka was a major part of the Silk Road. Apparently you have large, deep, and well protected harbors. Is there much recreational boating there? Big interest of mine.
We are all glad you’re here and are happy to help where we can. I’m confident any insights you choose to share into local and regional cuisine will be well received.
I’ve added a dragon fruit to the grocery shopping cart for curbside pickup later this week. It’s quite expensive here in Maryland USA so it will be a treat.
I think I have the timing right - Happy Festival of the Tooth.
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Thanks for the kind words. I’m honestly really happy that I joined this forum. New friends and new ideas.
Sri Lanka is in Ptolemy’s world map too! It has a written history of more than 2500 years. So definitely the country has seen a lot of action. (We were also under the Dutch, Portuguese, and the British)
Before the pandemic the country was a popular destination for tourists. Beaches all around, and boats too. But the recreational boating is actually limited to tourists, as the locals go to sea only to fish. And no yachts either. For tourists there’s a lot of sea activities like surfing, boating, catamarans, jet skis, speed boats etc.
August is the month of the famous pageant of the Temple of Tooth Relic but this year it will be very low key, without spectators and most notably without tourists due to the pandemic. Before pandemic it was the biggest cultural event, and people wait along the streets of inner city of Kandy from early morning to see the pageant in the evening. (I am from the Kandy district, not from the city though) 
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I thought I had it right. My sister Jamdrom is a lama in the Buddhist Karma Kagyu. Indeed I watched the Karmapa speak for a while this morning (US ET - late afternoon for him I believe). I don’t practice Buddhism, I just rub up against it. Most of what I know is Tibetan Buddhism with a smattering of Thai practices.
For our colleagues here, the left canine tooth of Gautama Buddha was recovered from his funeral pyre and ultimately carried to Sri Lanka where it is a sacred relic. Big celebration annually in August. @LastManStanding will correct me if I got any of that wrong.
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You are correct about the relic.
I heard from a friend of mine who used to work in Sri Lanka as a peace corps volunteer that he had heard from someone that the British took away the actual relic but it was replaced with a fake so that the locals won’t stand against the governor.
The thing is, that no one is able to see it ever. Only at a special display which takes place once every 10 years or so, but still it’s wrapped in something. So nobody has actually seen it. Maybe only those who have the keys to the chamber. So whether it’s there or not no one actually knows.
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I’m repeating myself a bit but I hope those who have been around for a while will forgive me.
My username here is based on the name of my boat. My sister names my boats for me using the eight characteristics of a good person. Auspicious is the big boat, Integrity is my work boat, and Merit is my dinghy.
When the current Karmapa was young I became friends with Tai Situ Rinpoche. I have a lovely piece he drew for me of the Tibetan ideograph for Auspicious. For some years he had a home here in the US and I spent time with him and his entourage. I learned to make yogurt from them based on techniques that included fermenting under the saddle blanket of a yak, and I learned to make momos with ground yak meat.
My late sister-in-law was Thai and also Buddhist so I got some insight into the geographic differences within Buddhism as well as the eight (I think) sects.
Although I have not visited Sri Lanka, my sister and Tibetan friends, my SIL Lamoun, some friends cruising (boats) SEA, and past work experience with Mauritius give me some sense of connection to your part of the world.
Giving thought to what to do with the dragon fruit I’ll get from the grocery on Thursday. Input is welcome.
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I think it’s most successful in a mixed fruit salad. Dragon fruit can be pretty bland if it’s not at its peak. It’s easy to find in my neighborhood (I’m near Chinatown in Manhattan), but I only get if it I plan to eat it along with litchis or pineapple or something else reliably sweet.
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While I do find some dragon fruit now at the big local supermarket, I still pick them up when I’m at an Asian market. A bit more variety in those markets, like the bright pink fleshed variety or the yellow/gold variety.
I find the bright pink fleshed variety and the yellow skinned variety to be very sweet, with an exceptionally floral aroma. I might even say a bit too floral, on the yellow skin variety. Those fruits are nice just cute up and eaten fresh, or mixed into a fruit salad of sorts.
The regular white flesh, pink skin dragon fruit I find very hit or miss, especially in the US. Sometimes extremely bland, sometimes with a pleasant mild sweetness. They can add a nice texture contrast to other fruits or desserts.
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This is the only kind that’s readily available in my area. I’ll keep an eye out for the other types you mention.
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The other kinds are more common now. I’ve even seen them in non-Asian markets this year. I want to say Trader Joe’s but can’t be 100% certain.
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I have a different “expose” regarding this blandness. I’ve found that’s true, but I’ve also eaten dragon fruit that got fully ripe while on the plant itself. And that wasn’t bland at all. That sweetness and taste I never got from any fruit bought from a store.
This is true about several other fruits such as some varieties of mangoes, bananas, and “wild guava”
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Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, and Burma(Myanmar) belong to the Theravada sector which focuses more on behaviour and understanding of the doctrine, while in China and Japan it’s the Mahayana version. They focus on rituals. That’s why the monks in China and Japan would wear their traditional wear in saffron colour whereas Theravada monks wear robes.
Having said that, Buddhism in Sri Lanka is changing. They are focusing more and more on loudspeakers, financial gains, reputation, and being “celebrities” than actual religion. lol.
A dragon fruit here is around 4 USD; is that cheap or expensive compared to your prices?
I’ve been gifted cuttings from a dragon fruit and assured they’ll bear. At the moment they’re about 6" long, but assertively sending out new growth and roots, so I assume it will be a while before it us ready to fruit.
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At my local Safeway dragon fruit is 6 USD / US pound.
Kagyu Karma, which my sister practices, is traditional. Definitely robes, definitely shaved heads. Not much in the way of personal belongings. When she first joined in about 1985 she was in full retreat studying for three years. There are certainly rituals - chanting, butter candles, rose water - but lots of focus on study, discussion, and advancement.
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