Our island home sits right off the southern tip of India. Sunsoaked, with a gentle, warm breeze, Sri Lanka’s 830-mile coastline is home to coconut-fringed beaches, pebbled shores, rich mangrove systems, and coral beds. Often, charred skies burst into monsoon downpours that last just a few minutes to a couple of hours, brushing off the balmy heat. This warm tropical climate means one thing: there’s access to fresh produce year-round.

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All year, fresh, colourful vegetables grace Sri Lankan kitchens. Some of them grow in the central highlands with a mild climate. Others thrive in the sundrenched, arid plains. Rice grows twice a year and dominates most of our meals. There are foraged, wild-grown feasts: think of baby jackfruit that grows in your neighbour's garden or mukunuwenna (Alternanthera sessilis), a green that flourishes organically by the paddy fields.

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Add to this is an amalgam of vast, distinct communities that settled down from time to time and called the island their home. Love for food runs deep within these diverse cultures scattered across the island, giving birth to a host of rich culinary traditions. Vegan, and veggie, but also packed with seafood and meat-based delicacies. 

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The world’s best cinnamon comes from the south of the island, carrying a delicate, floral aroma. Cardamom plants dot the mountain estates while turmeric growing in the lower hills and plains colour our curries bright yellow. Sri Lankan cuisine is a vibrant blend of all these ingredients. It meticulously utilizes every part of the coconut to bind, flavour and thicken the curries, mallung and sambols. 

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Some of our dishes require hours of kitchen labour. Others are simple to put together. They pack flavours — fiery, spicy and sometimes subtle. Desserts are sugary-sweet, perfect to pair with a cup of Ceylon tea on a rainy day at home. 

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The city. The restaurant.

For those in the know, kolamba is Colombo. Ibn Battuta once called it Kalanpu. A 13th-century Sinhala-language grammar book mentions that kolamba indicates a harbour, and is derived from the language of the Vedda, the oldest living inhabitants of Sri Lanka. Robert Knox, a British sailor who lived as a captive in Sri Lanka, writes in his 1681-book ‘A Historical Relation of Ceylon,’ that the name comes from an ambo or amba (mango) tree. Kola refers to the trees’ leaves. 

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The Portuguese came here in 1505 and landed in ‘Kolon Thota’ — the port on the River Kelani. The story says that ‘Kolon Thota’ became ‘Colombo’ in honour of Christopher Columbus. 

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Kolamba has always been a main seaport. Traders and voyagers from the Arab world, Persia, and India came here. Some of them settled down and controlled the trade between ancient kings and the further world. The Portuguese ruled the country’s coastal belt. Later, the Dutch took over, controlling the spice trade. The British occupied the island in 1815, growing tea in the central highlands for export purposes. 

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Kolamba today is a vibrant hub of the communities who call it their home. It’s here that a large chunk of the island's commerce takes place. Markets come to life every day, sandwiched between latter-day skyscrapers. And the city’s centuries-old history is evident in the faintly preserved architecture hidden in many nooks and crannies.

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Kolamba here in Soho, London is like the city back home. It’s a delicious fuse of tastes and textures of many cultures: Sinhalese, Tamil, Moor, Dutch and Malay. There are generational recipes made with love and recreations of our favourite street snacks. And our ready-to-eat Sri Lankan meal kits deliver across the UK, bringing the taste of home to you.

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Stories to fill your heart

Through Kolamba Diaries, we want to bring you much more about the culinary traditions of our island home. We hope to talk about the tastes, textures and aromas: the way a sprig of homegrown curry leaves elevates flavour; how cinnamon scents our dhal; the right amount of tamarind that sours our fish; and how caramelized onions make for a perfect condiment to pair with bowl-shaped appa or hoppers.

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Kolamba Diaries will bring you an overview of how the country’s fresh produce turns into spice-laden sides, festivals that brighten up the island, and the food that brings together diverse cultures.

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While we hope to talk about our teatime treats and occasion fare, we know that you sometimes love to put on your kitchen apron. Once in a while, we’ll share with you recipes for our beloved snacks and home-cooked dishes. Some of them are passed down through generations. 

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And more than all, we hope to bring you a little slice of Sri Lanka here, so that you can wander through the busy streets, the jungles and the shores, and feel the warmth of our ever-smiling island home.

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See you every fortnight.

Words: Zinara Rathnayake

Photography:

‍Zinara Rathnayake is a travel, food & culture writer and a social media manager based in Asia. Her work appears in BBC, CNN, The Guardian, New York Times, Bon Appetit among others. When she’s not writing, you would find her in a mountain home somewhere far away. Read more about her work here.