This is, the ultimate Sri Lankan feast, lamprais .. (pronounced LUM-RAI) a mound of rice surrounded by various curries, all wrapped in a banana leaf and then baked.
Appam or Hoppers
Ooo.. that marvelous smell of baked banana leaf! That magic moment of peeling back the banana leaf, releasing a delicious rush of sweet fumes, the roasted spices and tamarind mingling with the chicken, beef, pork and mutton of the baked parcel, the sweet tang of the pickled brinjals, the caramelized onions of the sambal, the oceanic smell of the prawns.. and finally, pouring the spectacular pipping hot lamprais curry all over the rice with a flourish!
Apparently done the traditional way, making the perfect lum-rai is a cooking feat that takes two days or so. My old tea-lady was Sri Lankan, back in my first job and she told me that in any household in Sri Lanka, cooking the lamprais was a real performance. Something of a treasured family activity that the Sri Lankan families took pride in and fussed over.
In the days leading up to this gargantuan task, large crates of dry goods and spices would arrive from the grocers at her home. Her mother (even though my old tea lady currently had no two front teeth, she was once a pretty cute kid yes..) would place a special order at the local butcher’s, as the lamprais curry required not one but FOUR meats! I am not sure how many meats the Aliyaa one has but I am pretty certain three at least.. Not only that, for that day, extra help would be employed, and the children were forbidden to enter the kitchen. However, kids being kids would still try to sneak a peak at their family members griding coconut, boiling rice, chopping mounds of garlic, ginger and onion, and minced fish in the meat grinder for the spiced fried fish balls.
Oh, how she loved them fried frikkadels! It became an obsession of the kids to try and steal freshly fried frikkadels from the counter without getting their hands slapped!
Now looking back, she says that she can appreciate the amount of love and labour that went into making this dish. Back then however, all the old tea lady cared about was getting a share of the lamprais in her grubby little hands before her older and bigger relatives polished off everything. Being tiny, you had to be fast to survive!
Yes, the old tea lady said to me.. Even if I am homesick and have not had the lum-rai in a long time.. I picture this in my mind’s eye, because it is my favourite image.
A lady that stands in the kitchen with her apron covered in curry stains. Her hair greasy, her brow furrowed, her fingers yellow with turmeric. Her shoulders and calves and hands twitch involuntarily as they ache from all the cutting and chopping and standing in front of the stove. Picture a young girl running to hug her. They both start to giggle as lady and child alike, get covered in turmeric. The happiness is contagious just like the yellow dye. It sticks and though time passes, no amount of washing will dislodge it.
Footnote:
1. This post is specially dedicated to my friend Yvonne Siew. When I first got back from London to start work in Malaysia, she brought me to Aliyaa and introduced me to the Lamprais. She also taught me how to pronounce it correctly;)
2. This post is also dedicated to a Lil Fatmonkey and Velvetescape. The photos are from the former and the great dinner mood due to the latter!
SRI LANKAN BICEPS
(as in, eat sri lankan to get biceps. the monkey is obviously chinese)
SALUTE!
Oh I love it! Food looks great as usual, and you two my friends, look good as always! 🙂
thanks darling!
I read about this place somewhere before! In the papers I think.
I was looking forward to a shot of the Kool, or Odiyal Kool or something, the one dish that uses flour made from the palm root or something.
My Ceylonese friend used to tell stories about this hard-to-find dish.
Sri Lankan eat pork?
juno, j2kfm, mimi:
the food is great but we did not get to eat the Odiyal K.. maybe next trip right? Mimi, this place is halal..
Love the food in Aliyaa. Must go back for the crabs one day!
LL yea, love them crabs.. so huge! since they cook it with so many spices it does not really matter that sri lankan crabs have less taste in the meat than other crabs. how cares right?! so damn delicious! We had the claypot one before. totally spectacular. one of those dishes you will never forget!
Love the pic….Keith is handsome indeed n I really really love that pic of the two of u in B&W!!!
HE IS! thanks pauline
Now this area is virtually unexplored… I mean for me 🙂
so when is our next date?! LOL
ooo the ‘s’ in lamprais is silent? that’s so … french or something! heheh, i would just have embarrassed myself by pronouncing it lump-rice. thanks for teaching me better! 😀
hope u’ll be around in kl in october! let’s do a pig-out, drink-out dinner sometime that month (i’ll be just back from vacation in early october)? sorry it’s been so long since our last one!
Sean, any time.. just say the word;)
My first taste of Aliyaa’s food during the Fried Chillies’ Palm Oil Shorties has really whetted my appetite & I’ve been hankering on returning. I just might do it soon with such wonderful *pokes* from you and monkey boy.
yay! lets go again Boo!
Yummy! The food looks fabulous as always. And check out those biceps! 🙂
“The happiness is contagious just like the yellow dye. It sticks and though time passes, no amount of washing will dislodge it.”
That is an amazing image and a true one too. 🙂
Thanks for re-introducing me to Yvonne (can’t believe she and I have so many mutual pals!) and for the late lunch/tea on Sunday. It was divine, as always. 🙂
Love ur blog! We hope that you could visit us and check out our food as well one day and im sure u will love it! Find us in FB too! 🙂
This looks really tasty. Amazing photos once again.
Leslie, LFB, Anob, Ted:
Yvonne is great! how else would I have tried this amazing dish. Ted & Leslie thanks for the kind comments! One day I will take you for this!
LFB & Anob:
thanks for the kind words!
Wrap me up in banana leave and bake me together in the lamprais!
You just want the LOT , don’t cha? huh? huh? don’t cha? 😛
Wow, just read this post and it really made me want to taste those dishes! Of course for me are some “exotic food” due to the continent and country, but they still look yummy! Bon apetit 😉 !
Bon apetit darling!
Does look authentic that multi baked banana leaf thingy. We of course have never seen it. But the fork , sure its right ?
thozz should have your long little nifty fingers rummaging through !
ah true! what’s better than sri lankan curry? fingers that smell of curry ! LOL
THE MONKEY IS CHINESE?!!!
duh, yeah?!
I like this place too. I’ve been here before but never had the lumprais which probably means I never went at all. *hangs head
Very nice photos, but what is one of those Hainan chicken bowls doing in a Sri Lankan joint? 😉
The food looks so good. Feeling hungry right now.:)