“‘My allowance of liquid during the day was a small cup of coffee before I started in the morning; breakfast during these two months consisted only of a bit of cake made of rice-flour and water, a biscuit or two, and a cup of cold tea which I carried in a small bottle. In the evening my dinner was boiled rice and a small bit of salt fish, or sometimes some jungle roots made into a curry, a glass of sherry mixed with an equal quantity of water; and after dinner, a cup of coffee with my cigar.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
(_Soyer's Recipe_.) 1348. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of the best Carolina rice, 2 quarts of water, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, a little salt. _Mode_.--Wash the rice well in two waters; make 2 quarts of water boiling, and throw the rice into it; boil it until three-parts done, then drain it on a sieve. Butter the bottom and sides of a stewpan, put in the rice, place the lid on tightly, and set it by the side of the fire until the rice is perfectly tender, occasionally shaking the pan to prevent its sticking. Prepared thus, every grain should be separate and white. Either dish it separately, or place it round the curry as a border. _Time_.--15 to 25 minutes. _Average cost_, 7d. _Sufficient_ for 2 moderate-sized curries. _Seasonable_ at any time.
Sources: The passage is from C. F. (Constance Frederica) Gordon Cumming, Two happy years in Ceylon, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Beeton, The Book of Household Management of 1861, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — navy cloth, teapot stamp.