Some of my favourite dishes come from Jaffna in the north. I have a slight addiction to crab, and to slow-cooked goat. The goat curry is made with Jaffna’s signature dark curry powder, which is freshly roasted and ground, ensuring an aromatic and full-bodied flavour.
The meat is cooked low and slow until it’s nice and tender, and the sauce, or gravy as it is more commonly known, is rich and reduced to a thick consistency. Like most curries in Sri Lanka, it’s a one-pot deal and super easy to prepare. I’ve seen it made with added offal for an even deeper flavour, but it works just as well without. Try it for a few pounds at Jaffna’s scruffy, lurid green-painted Hotel Rolex (+94 77 907 9888, 340 Hospital Road).
In my other favourite, mud crab curry, the crab is meltingly soft, slightly sweet and delicately flavoured. It starts with a base of mustard seeds, shallots, garlic and green chillies, then the crabs go in, with a little water and fresh cumin and fennel seeds, red hot chilli powder and, of course, Jaffna curry powder. Once cooked, it’s finished with the creamy, thick first extract of coconut milk. Cosy Restaurant (+94 21 2 225899, Sirampiyadi Lane, off Stanley Road) does one of the best for about £6.
Another great dish, but from southern Sri Lanka, is the moist, deep-flavoured hill country pork curry. It’s prepared with a host of spices including roasted fenugreek seeds, cinnamon and goraka – a souring and thickening fruit paste similar in flavour to tamarind – plus the usual mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chilli powder and fragrant curry leaves. The Ferncliff a period bungalow with four guest rooms among tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya, does a great version that packs a fiery punch.
Arugam Bay on the east coast is known for its world-class waves – but I love it for the lotus stir-fry, which I first tried many years ago at family-run Samanthi’s Restaurant (077 175 9620) a stone’s throw from the beach in Main Point Road. Many parts of the lotus plant can be eaten, but this dish is all about the stem: it’s crunchy and fibrous in texture and tastes great.
I first visited the south-east of the island when I went on a safari in Yala national park on a mission to photograph the elusive Sri Lankan leopard. I stayed at the fantastic Elephant Camp guesthouse (doubles £26 B&B) in Tissamaharama, where I met Jaya and Anoma.
Anoma is a fantastic cook – I asked her to contribute some recipes to my book. In my opinion she does the finest spread of rice and curries on the island. The standout is her seer fish white curry, made with a tropical fish a bit like mackerel, green chillies, mustard, turmeric and coconut.
Just to warn you, everything in Sri Lanka runs on “Sri Lankan time”, and food can generally take a while to reach the table, but if you go to the right places, it’s well worth the wait.
Jon Lewin is author of The Locals Cookbook – Sri Lanka
