Yummy Malay

Sri Lanka's culinary culture has been benefited with the influence of Malay dishes like Pittu and Wattalapam and ensuring that Lankan taste buds are kept tingling, the Sri Lanka Malay Food Festival will take place at the Galadari Hotel on June 26 and 27.

Honeida Packeer of the Kumpulan Batarramulla Melayu Association and her team of delightful Malay chefs will make scrumptious dishes like Satay and the favourite Malaysian fried rice Nasi Goreng.

A speciality of the Malay Food Festival will be Babath Curry' that is a lovely tripe dish which Sri Lankans love.

Just thinking of the curry will make tummies rumble and mouths to salivate. The Daging Chuka dish is peppered beef which is deliciously presented with onions and a good gravy.

Under the supervision of Galadari's Executive Chef Salih, the team of Malay culinary experts will make authentic Malay cuisine where the dishes will go through a effective process of giving genuine taste with a subtle combination of Sri Lankan influence.

"We have a unique process of cooking and roasting food like Satay which are burnt on both sides to preserve the flavour and keep it delicious" he said. As for sweets, the kithul pudding Wattalapam and Malay Dodol famed for coming to Colombo from Hambotata will also make a delicious appearance.

Nirukshi Rupasinghe of the Galadari Hotel said that since Sri Lankans love Malay cuisine and that many Malays in Sri Lanka keep their cooking traditions hidden within their families, the food festival is the best platform for many to discover the delights and secrets of traditional Malay cooking.

"We hope people will understand and respect the culture of the Sri Lankan Malays by gracing their cooking which is definitely a wonderful art" she concluded. - N.D