Review: Colours of Sri Lanka @ Makan Kitchen

KL city...I love you SO very much....

You have incredibly nonsensical traffic jams in the Smart Tunnel that says "Dilarang Berhenti" (No Stopping) almost every weekday after office hours...

But thank goodness you've an incredibly beautiful view of the sunset (while it was drizzling!!) amidst the soaring sky-scrappers landscape as well... 

And you also offer an extensive variety of cuisines in ONE city centre! :D This, I am thankful....hohoho...

Makan Kitchen @ Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur, had their Colours of Sri Lanka' Media & Bloggers Launch last week i.e. 7th March 2013. It was a very interesting event as we were also invited to sit through a live-cooking demo of 2 popular Sri Lankan dishes by their chefs, Chef Ajith Hewa Bandula & Chef Harsha Wijesinghe, who were flown in for this promotion from the Hilton Colombo Residences.

Cooking demo on 2 dishes: Traditional Sri Lankan Chicken Curry (bottom left) & Negombo Tempered Prawns (bottom right)

Top right shows a photo of drumstick leaves...I didn't know that it can be used for cooking!

The Sri Lankan dishes will be available as part of their buffet spread at Makan Kitchen for the month of March, beginning from 7th March 2013 :) The promotion is available on weekdays for lunch & dinner + weekends for high tea with the prices as below:

Weekday lunch: RM62.00++/adult, RM31.00++/child below 12 years old

Weekday dinner: RM85.00++/adult, RM42.50++/child below 12 years old

Weekend High Tea: RM55.00++/adult, RM27.50++/child below 12 years old

** CIMB credit card holders who spend a minimum amount of RM250.00 on nett bill will be entitled to participate in the "Win a Trip to Sri Lanka" contest for 2 persons inclusive of air flight tickets & a 4 days/3 nights stay at Hilton Colombo Residences.

Below are some of the dishes available as part of the extensive buffet spread (which offers not just Sri Lankan food, but other international cuisines as well):

Ala Thel Dala/Potato Tempered

Using the "white-skinned potatoes" for this 'dry-curry' dish, the potatoes are soft & slightly sweeter than the brown-skinned ones. It's very similar with the Indian-style of dry potatoes curry, but it probably uses different spices.

Hean Batha - Sri Lankan Special Rice with Seeds

Brown rice + an assortment of beans - quite a healthy variant of rice dish

Tempered Beans Curry

It doesn't taste very curry-ish nor is it spicy. But it is still quite a delicious dish of stir-fried french beans with tumeric powder, dried chillies, onions, garlic, & some coconut milk to give it a smooth, creamy texture.

Photo by Tan SY

Sri Lankan Style Mutton Stew

Tender pieces of mutton with a variety of herbs & spices...not too bad, but if you're so used to Indian-style mutton, you'll find this slightly bland & not very fascinating.

Photo by Tan SY

Negombo Tempered Prawns

This prawn dish is accompanied by 11 different herbs & spices! You'll find onions, lemongrass, garlic, chili powder, cardamom, rampe/pandan leaves, cinnamon, mustard seeds, chili pieces, drumstick leaves, & lime....very flavourful...

Traditional Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

If you're wondering why the curry is dark brown, it's all because of the roasted curry powder! Normal curry powder will make the dish look orange, but the roasted ones will make the dish look dark brown! No soya sauce/dark soya sauce added to give the dish such a colour. Interesting, eh? This dish has 18 different herbs & spices i.e. onions, sweet cumin powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garlic, ginger, cardamom, cloves, Fenugreek, tumeric, chili powder, pepper powder, mustard cream, tomatoes, thick coconut milk, curry leaves, lemongrass, & rampe/pandan leaves! Fuh...I can't even say all the ingredients out in 1 breath! :P

Sri Lankan Dhal Curry

It's very different from the Indian-style dhal. It's more "paste-y" like a mashed-dhal beans dish.

Sri Lankan Curry Noodles

It's not a very 'curry' noodles dish. It's pretty much "mee hoon" fried with curry leaves, carrots, & some spices with some tumeric powder to give the yellow colour. I can't really taste the 'curry' here.

Mango Ambula

This was really sour thanks to the "assam pieces"...I didn't really fancy this dish. It's quite an acquired taste.

Fish Ambuthiyal

The taste of this fish dish is an acquired taste. The fish used is tuna, cooked with 'goraka'/assam pieces, which is grounded & made into a paste (with other ingredients) prior to cooking it with the fish. The flavour is VERY different from any fish curry that you've ever tasted. Some people will not be able to tolerate the flavour of this dish...hahaha...my personal opinion: fishy, "1-dimensional dish" - just salty & sour...I can still finish the piece of fish, but some others couldn't even take another bite after their first bite! :P

Photo by Tan SY

Sri Lankan Hoppers with Condiments

If you love the Indian-style appam, you'll most probably enjoy this as well. It's very fragrant thanks to the coconut milk :) They also have a savoury version that's with an egg + chili flakes, which they call "Egg Hoppers".

Photo by Tan SY

Desserts: Lassi & rice cakes/kuih-muih

L->R: Vatalapan, Bibikhan, Kalu Dodol, & Kiritopy

Similar to the Indian-style desserts, the Sri Lankan desserts are also VERY sweet & uses treacle, rice flour, & coconut milk as their base ingredients.

Both the chefs from Colombo Hilton Residences

Chef Ajith & Chef Harsha with the variety of Sri Lankan dishes 

Vegetable Drumstick Soup

It's like a smooth cream of "asparagus/broccoli", but the base is the drumstick plant :) Interesting variant! 

The fluffy rice with seeds (and beans) + the tender stewed mutton :)

Gifts from Sri Lanka! 

Hello Little Elephant! 

It was a good experience to enjoy such an extensive variety of Sri Lankan food. It felt as if we landed on Sri Lanka for a couple of hours! I personally prefer Indian cuisine over Sri Lankan, but this experience was a good learning-experience & it opened my eyes (and tastebuds) to a different culture's cuisine.

If you've no idea how Sri Lankan dishes tastes like, Makan Kitchen provides you a good avenue to try all the popular Sri Lankan dishes during the month of March. It's certainly cheaper to experience Sri Lankan dishes here than to fly to Sri Lanka itself ;)

Note: Makan Kitchen will also be having a Sri Lankan Master Cooking Class with Chefs Ajith and Harsha on 16th March 2013 at RM68.00++ per person (3 recipes inclusive of high-tea). The cooking session is reserved for a minimum of 5 persons & a maximum of 15 persons per class. Do call Makan Kitchen for reservation.

Makan Kitchen

Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur

The Intermark

348, Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia.

Tel: (+603) 2172 7272/7680

Online reservation: www.makan-kitchen.com

Facebook: Makan Kitchen

Enjoyed the Colours of Sri Lanka,