Food4Thought | Discovering Jaffna's Best Alternative Food Joint in Colombo

I live in the suburbs of Colombo and travelling to Jaffna takes over 6-7 hours. With the existing fuel quota it is not easy to travel freely according to your preference. And opting for public transport can be considered but then it is a serious decision to make, specially for people like me who makes travel arrangements keeping food as the primary objective. I may sound like a great pessimist but what I'm trying to say is that if you are a person living in Colombo - looking out for Jaffna food then go no further than Wellawatta. Yaarl Eat House serves you a variety of Jaffna food ensuring that the authenticity is well preserved. 

I usually order pittu, parata, omlette and 'crab curry' - which takes a bit extra time to munch because you start to savor the flavors it gives you. Going for the option for crab curry can make you think twice because you may feel its a bit messy or there are no utensils to break the shells or in my case whether I'd spill curry on my shirt. If there's great food non of these things actually matter, specially when its close by.

They also serve other dishes such as Jaffna cuttlefish curry, Jaffna mutton curry, sprat devilled, rice options, koththu options and string hoppers. 

It is not glamorous, maybe its not for everyone but when it comes to food and the authenticity is quite amazing. I always get the feel of Jaffna when get to Yaarl Eat house with the ambience they've created with the set up, background music and most importantly the food they serve on a banana leaf!

Location - Yaarl Eat House

Food4Thought | Jaffna Snack Attack!!

Look at his face! He thinks he's so special, I don't like him!

He's so arrogant! Such an ass!

Well.. these are common phrases that we use, when we watch Virat Kohli play a cricket match. This also explains our sentiment towards all Indians for some reason. We as Sri Lankans have a sense of animosity towards Indians specially when watching cricket matches. 

But I feel like the few lucky ones who had the opportunity to travel to India few times and meet Indians. This exposure provided the space to create great friendships over the years with Indians. Now, I can safely say that I managed to get rid of my animosity and appreciate the Indians. Because who are we kidding, we are more Indian than we think!

When you analyze the course of history, you may observe that we have been influenced by Indians with technology, fashion, language, culture, education, literature, politics and most importantly food. I can talk about Indian food all day because its that damn good. But today I'm going to stick to 'Murukku', a snack with its origins in Tamil Nadu, which gets its name from the Tamil word for 'twist'. To make this snack, a semi-solid dough primarily made from rice is passed through a murukku-maker and then it is deep-fried.

My friend Sugi told me the inspiring story of Ebiron, the place that sells exceptional murukku you can find in Sri Lanka - the absolute best! He told me that few years ago, an old lady (owner of Ebiron) used to sell homemade murukku and variety of snacks by the main road in Jaffna. The important thing to observe was that she would be sold out within couple of hours every single day. The popularity and quality led to expand her business faster than her competition. Apparently now, she has provided employment opportunities for over 100 individuals and has two shopping malls in the Northern province.

You may attempt to make murukku on your own or if that doesn't work, maybe you might opt to find some brand that is available in the super market but my friends it is nothing compared to what Ebiron has to offer. It is very fresh, easy on the teeth (not hard and chewy), spices used are very well balanced, not oily and most importantly 1/3rd of the cost compared to what is available in the market (500g was bought at Rs. 280/- in December 2022). 

Try it and let me know your thoughts! 

P.S. Also talk to Sugi he can explain the story better!

Location:

 Visiting Ebiron outlet in Jaffna

Food4Thought | Underrated Queen of the Hills 'Matale'

Matale is a very special place to me. I had the opportunity to work with Thevuni for about a year and a half (during 2017-2018) in different parts of Matale, trying to elevate the capacities of community leaders in 5 chosen locations within the district. 

As far as I'm concerned, Matale has a lot to offer in terms of places to visit in comparison to the other two districts in the central province. We did our fair share of taking a hike in the mountains and visiting lakes and water falls, these places were not considered commercial sites therefore, it was in the most natural state. 

Well... I'm not going to talk about my work  or the hikes we did but I'm going to talk about the place that made us survive for a year and half to do all these things that I mentioned. This gem of a place is a wonderful discovery as it had so many food options to choose from Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese, etc. Most of the time we get to 'Ape Bojun' - starving with the ability to eat the entire buffet but we never even gotten close to it at all, it is good to be ambitious though!

Almost every dish we tried was pretty amazing, specially the Sri Lankan cuisine and the Sri Lankan sweets they had to offer. The sesame products are my favorite! 

Most importantly the friendly and polite nature of the staff made us visit this place on a daily basis, just to sustain the relationship and most importantly for the prioritized service. 

Last year we both went back to this place after 4 years and the manager still remembered us, he greeted us with a million dollar smile and started his familiar chat. 

If you go pass Matale do not miss Ape Bojun! It will be your loss!

Location - Ape Bojun

#food #travel #foodie 

Food4Thought | Best Mutton Biriyani in Jaffna

Its true that I drove all the way to Jaffna from Pasikudah just to grab some samosas, but this story is not about that. 

On the way to Jaffna I was bummed that the samosas that I was targeting had all disappeared so I had to find an alternative food options to survive one day; and this Gem was found right opposite to Thaj Hotel. 

Ordering the Mutton Biriyani was an after-thought but what an after-thought it was! Simply brilliant! It is not too harsh with flavors but enough to blow my mind; and the Mutton portion was reasonable considering the price of mutton these days in the market. The important part is that there were real edible pieces of mutton rather than chewy parts, where I get all frustrated right from the start of the meal. It had a nice Jaffna and South Indian tone to it, which I specially liked. Since it was shared with three people it disappeared in couple of minutes. 

Head down to Kabris and order one Mutton Biriyani for yourself because it is not practical to share food that is amazing as this! But be open to share your thoughts!

Location - Kabris Kingdom

#travel #food #srilanka 

Food4Thought | Chicken Cheese Koththu anyone?

I'm a Sri Lankan. A Sri Lankan Malay.

I'm also a Wattala wanker, I'll always be a Wattala wanker where ever I live in the world. 

Therefore ladies and gentleman, Iit is my duty to talk about the stuff that makes me proud when it comes to Wattala. Yes it is true - Wattala is known for its diversity of people and the culture. We have Kandy Sinhalese, upcountry Sinhalese, Matara Sinhalese, Anuradhapura Sinhalese, Hill country Tamils, Jaffna Tamils, Indian Tamils, East Tamils, East Moors, South Moors, Kandy Moors, Beruwela Moors, Middle-east Moors, Indonesian Malays, Malaysian Malays, Sri Lankan Malays, Dutch Burghers, Portuguese Burghers, English Burghers and Sri Lankan Burghers - I'm not even kidding, Wattala has them all. 

Wattala is also known for its horrible traffic, which I thought, has no leverage to bring out any positivity. 

But Today it is all about the food I found in Wattala that we all can enjoy and be proud about. I have to say it is almost impossible to find a decent Chicken Cheese Koththu in Colombo except unless we go to Negombo to find the best Chicken Cheese Koththu in the world - Sameeha (I will feature it soon, when I get there one of these days). Shifana Hotel in Mabole, Wattala also produces one heck of a Chicken Cheese Koththu which is as good as Sameeha. Yes, I said it, maybe because I'm a Wattala Wanker. But if you don't trust me, try it and let me know what you thoughts are. It is definitely the best alternative to the Best Chicken Cheese Koththu in the world. 

When I make the order I make sure I request an extra chicken portion because I don't eat alone and I can't be fighting for the chicken midway of the meal. Also, on the other hand in my opinion this particular Chicken Cheese Koththu cannot be eaten alone even if you are ambitious enough to be the President of the country, but of course, it just an opinion, many have proved me wrong including myself.

Location - Shifana Hotel Mabole Wattala

Food4Thought | Best Samosas in the country

I love to eat

More specifically, I love to eat good food.

So I thought maybe I should share my experience for others to do the same for the simplest reason - why should anyone eat crappy food?

Firstly I have to say, I’m no food expert nor a food reviewer (I’m not too sure whether I got that title right). But I just find good food and eat it. 

This is my favorite place to find samosas in Sri Lanka - Hotel Thaj in Jaffna. If you are ever in Jaffna you can’t/ shouldn’t miss this place (it’s easily accessible down the A9 road close to the 3rd cross street). Hotel Thaj has been around for some time and whenever I visit Jaffna I make sure that I pay a visit and grab my dosage of samosas. They serve chicken samosas and the taste is incomparable because it’s too good. The best part is that they don’t cheat with the meat. Sometimes, when we go to a restaurant we feel dissatisfied with the quantity of the dish they serve, but I have never felt that way with the Thaj Samosas, it has always been a fulfilling experience. Thaj hotel produces samosas every morning and the evening on a daily basis, so if you want fresh samosas make sure you go between 10.00am-1.00pm and 5.00pm-7.30pm. This amazing creation is served at a reasonable price of Rs.80/- (During my last visit in December 2022).

Don’t sit and ponder - grab your samosas and share your experience so that more people get the taste of good food!

#SriLanka #Travel #Jaffna #Food

Location - Thaj Hotel