Monday Sep 09, 2024
Monday Sep 09, 2024
Saturday, 6 September 2014 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
very Sunday morning for the entire family. In most cases, a limited number of packs are made each time and put up for sale. “The early bird gets the worm” would be the perfect term to be used in the case of fetching your Sunday lamprais! I can almost guarantee them to be sold out by 11 a.m. on most occasions.
A brief background on the dish
Introduced to us by the Dutch, this dish consists of the following ingredients, and is traditionally wrapped and baked in a banana leaf to reveal its true flavours. An authentic lamprais should not weigh anything more than 350-400 grams. However, locals prefer their lamprais to consist of more rice, therefore many places seem to cater to this requirement.
Rice – ideally boiled in chicken stock; meat – an authentic lamprais consists of mixed meat which is beef, pork, and lamb, however, over time the lamb was replaced by chicken being one of the main three meats and lamprais is now most commonly served with chicken; seeni sambal – a ‘sambal’ consisting of mainly onions; fried ash plantain; brinjals fry; fish cutlet; blachan – paste made of dried prawns, and spices; boiled egg – fried on the outside, many say the egg is not included in the most traditional version, but it sure does taste better with one!
Authentic lamprais is not cooked with coconut milk or oil. Instead, butter is used for frying. Mild spices such as cinnamon, cloves and cumin along with pepper is used to spice up the dish.
Carrying on the tradition of indulging in a good lamprais on a lazy Sunday, my friends and I often check out new places in order to discover the best ones. However, we keep on running back to the following places, given the choice.
Fab Foods
The Fab lamprais is a regular takeaway for us on Sundays because of its reasonable price and convenience of location due to its many branches.
This is not your regular, authentic lamprais, since it comes with chicken meat on a bone and they also include an egg in the equation but I have no complaints at all. It does not contain the blachan mixture as well, which I’m not a fan of anyways. The quantity of rice is definitely more than the traditional 400g, which is a plus point when it comes to the guys.
Like most places on a Sunday, it’s advisable to call ahead and pre-order your packs, as it is all sold out by noon. Just give them your name and number and they will reserve it for you.
Colombo Fort Cafe
On a scorcher of a day, it’s quite delightful to step into CFC and sit inside their cosy, cool restaurant. The ambience is pleasant and the service is supreme. If there is anything wrong with the food you receive or any delay in service, etc., not to worry, you will be compensated accordingly. This is why I wouldn’t mind paying Rs. 750 net for a packet of lamprais. I would not, however, opt to take away and have it at home as I prefer the averagely priced packs mentioned below for that.
The pack at Colombo Fort Café consists of either chicken or mixed meats (chicken, beef and pork), accompanied by all the traditional ingredients mentioned above, minus the egg (since it’s not in the original recipe). However, there are two cutlets to compensate.
My personal favourite is the brinjal fry, which is cooked to perfection. It has the perfect balance of sweetness, which enhances the taste of everything else.
Crossroads
This is not your traditional lamprais and is quite similar in taste to the Fab product. What set them apart are probably the fact that the Crossroads lamprais is a bit oilier and the portion slightly bigger than the Fab one.
Crossroads makes more packs than any other lamprais maker on a Sunday. There are instances where I walk in at 1 p.m. without reserving any packs, and there are plenty available. However, I always pre-order whenever we are having a planned feast.
Mrs. Hogsteen’s Lamprais – Don’s Deli
Many of you may have seen this name popping up on your daily newspaper. Out of curiosity, we decided to have a taste. One unique feature about the Don’s Deli is that their hotline is said to be open 24 hours. Their phone etiquette is also brilliant. They offer the following variants:
Vegetarian: Rs.390
Chicken: Rs. 425
Mixed: Rs. 450
Additionally, being more towards the traditional side, Mrs. Hogsteen does not include an egg in her Lamprais. The rice is not very oily and has been cooked quite well. But of course, this is not as spicy as the Fort Café dish, and is preferred by those who generally do not like spicy food in our crowd.
The Teacup
This last spot I have chosen is the best place to have lamprais if you are en route to Hatton or Nuwara Eliya, or on your way back to Colombo after a vacation up-country.
The rice is cooked to perfection and taste wise, it is much better that what you expect from some of the better restaurants in Colombo.
It’s a long journey from Colombo to Watawala. However, opening up this hot pack of heaven and getting the whiff of the fragrant spices in the package is just about all you can ask for, until you take the very first bite. Simply divine! The portion is quite big, filling and not too oily.
Many a lamprais review has been written and this may be just one of them to those of you out there.
However, I’ve noticed that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure when it comes to food reviews.
Therefore, I decided to put my own opinions out there so that all you foodies like me can maybe give one of these places a try, or maybe even a second chance – especially if you are a serious lamprais lover!
(Trekurious together with Daily FT explores Sri Lanka for the curious traveller. Trekurious works with talented individuals and great brands to create amazing experiential tours, activities, and events in Sri Lanka. You can find out more at www.Trekurious.com.)
