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To make the family’s meals tasty, the old village women prepared spices and salt properly. Every house had a salt shaker. They were good at making curries tasty by adding spices like ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon bark, and pepper. With the urbanization of the village, the way of preparing such things changed. Since chilies can be ground in a mill today and due to the focus on easy-to-make things, there is no need to grind chilies.
But there are still villages in Sri Lanka that still follow the old culture of cooking.
Siriwardena Place and Munnakkara in Negombo are two such villages.
Women who make a living by selling various types of food are found every day at the market called Aliyapola. Also, the people living in these areas also buy these and prepare their meals. There is a trade here that makes very little profit. The majority are traders. They identify the needs of the people in the area and carry out this small trade. Therefore, these people do not need to go to the city every day.
Mary Mercy Fernando
Mary Mercy Fernando
The above-mentioned chilli trade began among the women who were constantly struggling to maintain the family economy. Mary Mercy Fernando (73), who is still alive and well, met us at Siriwardena Place and had a conversation as follows.
“Our grandmother was the first to start the chilli business. I was about 15 years old at the time. I used to help her when I went to school and I would do the same work after school. Our father would bring the chillies. We would cut them into pieces and then slice them. Then we would add salt and pepper and soak them in water and grind them in a stone. We would then make chilli paste and sell it for Rs. 5, 10, 15, 20.”
Although the profit was small, the effort was heavy. However, the money earned through hard work was important due to poverty, Mary told us. Mary said that she has now handed over all the work to her daughter-in-law due to an eye disease and that she grinds the chillies in a mill and sells them. Although she used to earn very little, her daughter-in-law Yogarani earns about Rs. 1,000 a day.
Also, it does not follow the pattern that women used to do in the past and had to work hard. Today’s women have adapted to easy methods. Saying that this business of hers is a source of income for the household, she needs some support to buy a machine for grinding chilies. Currently, she has to pay Rs. 60 to grind 1 kg of chilies, which reduces her profit. She says that if she gets a bank loan or financial assistance, she can buy a machine to grind chilies herself.
Daisy Rani
Daisy Rani
Daisy Rani (51), who lives near Aliyapola in Munnakkara, grinds spices and sells them at Aliyapola. She is also a member of a family that is involved in the chili trade and earns Rs. She says that she earns about 1500 rupees and that the chillies she grinds for this purpose are sold out within a day. Daisy Rani, a mother of three, gives her husband, a small fisherman, enormous strength to carry on the family business.
\Ethal Fernando
Ethal Fernando
Kurukalasuriya Ethal Fernando (85 years old) is a mother of 6 children in Siriwardena Place. She states that she has been doing this based on the inspiration she received from her mother.
“My husband was a fisherman and after he passed away, I started this business to raise my children. Due to illness, I am not doing this job much now. I chop about 500 grams of chilies and sell them to people who come to my house.
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Mary Masila (54 years old), who mainly makes a living by chopping, grinding, and preparing chilies and other spices for her living, is another woman we met in Siriwardena Place. She has been involved in the chili trade full-time during her life’s struggle, and was also grinding chilies on the stone when we met. She explained how to cut the chilies, put them in a pan, chop them using pepper, salt, etc., soak them in water, put them on the stone, and grind them.
Mary Masila
Mary Masila
” I have been doing this business for 25 years. She makes chili balls and sells them wrapped in sunflower leaves. They sell them for Rs. 10, 20, 30, 50 per ball. Sometimes they sell for Rs. 200, 300. She sells the chili balls she makes at the market near the Holy Cross Bridge.
Mary Marcelina
Mary Marcelina
Mary Marcelina (51 years old) is also a chili seller in Siriwardena Place. Her mother, grandmother, and aunt are all involved in the chili trade. She sells them by going to houses and selling them. She says that after her husband died, she has been supporting the family through this chili trade.
The women we have discussed so far have created a special food culture in Munnakkara through this traditional trade, which they continue to carry out despite great difficulty in their struggle for survival. Meegama
