Jaffna Food Festival@ Galadari
we started. The Toddy combined with an ‘Ulundu wade’ and some Fried Prawns as a side dish was the perfect combination to start off the evening.
I then moved on to taste the mouthwatering Jaffna Kool, a traditional seafood broth, and it was full of flavour! Finding a good Kool in Colombo is almost rare, and this was just amazing. The flavours of each type of fish were quite distinctive, the rice didn’t overpower the meal and it had the perfect texture.
It’s fair to say that it was probably the best Kool I’ve ever tasted. In addition, I tried the Mutton Bone Soup, and that too was excellent.
Next, there was the standard Red
and White Rice alongside a vast array of curries to complement. The meat and fish dishes were absolutely out of this world! The Mutton Poriyal was simply outstanding, and the meat was tender which made the dish all the more perfect. There was also a Beef Bone Curry, and it was full of spice, just the way any Sri Lankan would love, and the meat was succulent - not something easy to achieve when making a bone curry! There was also a number of exquisite and luscious fish themed dishes, such as the Shark Red
Curry with Brinjal, the Paraw Fish Curry, the Prawn Curry and Cuttlefish Red Curry. However, the highlight of the day was definitely the Crab Curry. The play on flavours was absolutely divine - they weren’t too overpowering so as to ‘drown’ the crab out. Honestly, it was a heavenly dish and certainly made me want to go back for more!
The variety of Vegetable based dishes further contributed to making our dinner that much more flavoursome. Some of these included Ladies fingers,
Fried bitter gourd and Long beans red
curry. Not only did it provide to make our dinner with a healthy meal, but they tasted incredible too - as some would say, it tasted ‘just like home’. Keeping with tradition, dinner also included the usual
String Hoppers, Idly and Pittu. Desserts were quite out of the ordinary, but stayed in line with the theme of the festival. There was Rasavalli, a type of purple yam mixed with nuts and plums, and it tasted delicious. There was an assortment of homemade sweet meats, including the much loved Naaran Kavum, which tasted really nice as it wasn’t too sweet but had just the right flavour. The Pongal Rice, a cultural Tamil dish made for the festival of Thai Pongal, tasted sweet and was an absolute mouthwatering delight.
I believe that Thushara did a wonderful job in organising the Jaffna Food Festival and I must absolutely commend her culinary genius and authenticity. This is an event I will eagerly be counting days for next year, as it truly brought out and presented the beauty and wonder of the food in Jaffna. I would certainly recommend MSK to anyone who wants to have an authentic home cooked traditional Jaffna meal.