Flavors of Lanka- the Sri Lankan Food Fest at Marriott Whitefield

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There’s no place on earth quite like Sri Lanka. This beautiful island off the coast of India is home to not only lush rain forests teaming with elephants, buffalos and even turtles. It is a land of temples, tea fields, spices, cuisine and some of the world’s kindest and most welcoming people. ( Source: www.peterkuruvita.com )

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The Well known food writer Priya Bala along with Chef Sanjay Rawat of the Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield has curated a Flavors of Lanka menu to celebrate the food from our island neighbor. The 10 day long dinner buffet festival started on 4th September and will be on till 14 September 2017.

The brain behind this fest, Priya Bala , a well known name in food world ,is also an acclaimed food & travel writer. She specialises in food and travel writing. Author of books like Foodprints: A Trail of Meals and Memories, and Start Up Your Restaurant., she is also the editor of the Times Food Guide in Bengaluru. A passionate cook, Priya Bala has showcased the cuisine of Sri Lanka – where her roots lie – at various promotions. An avid traveller, she has travelled extensively in the Far East, Europe, including Scandinavia, and Morocco.

“my version of South Tamil Nadu & Sri Lankan cuisines is really my way of expressing myself through my food.” Priya Bala

The Sri Lanka Cuisine

Known as island of Rice & Curry , the Sri Lankan cuisine has been greatly influenced by its local food traditions, the Dutch , British & Portuguese colonisation and the neighbouring South India. The Fish and coconut are the two important ingredients of this tropical island cuisine. The abundance of fresh tropical fruit, vegetables and spices here has led to its extensive use in many ways in the kitchen.

Fragrant curries of seafood and meat, vegetables cooked in the most unexpected ways, hoppers and string hoppers, scrumptious ‘short eats’ make their appearance at the Sri Lankan table. Then, there’s lamprais that superb meal-in- a-banana leaf.

Recently , I was invited to be part of the exclusive food tasting of the mesmerizing flavors of a spice tear-drop shaped island at Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield.

The festive buffet had some tempting Live counters serving Sri Lankan favorites like Ladies Finger Sambol, Prawn vadai (channa dal) , vegetarian & non vegetarian Idiappam Kotthu , Bittergourd Sambol, Devilled prawn, Kotthu Rotti in both veg & non vegetarian variants,Onion Vade and Dutch inspired packet food, Lamprais. The Coconut pancakes, Banana fritters with jaggery syrup, Cake, ice cream & cashew sundaes were part of the live dessert counters.

The appetisers here included Veg cutlet, Stuffed snake gourd, Raw banana fry, Fish Patties, Omelette rolls with chicken Breads and the Idiappam. Among the mains , the spread had array of dishes to choose like the Kerala inspired dal, Parippu, spicy Potato Badun (fry), Pineapple Curry, Brinjal moju (pickling style), Beetroot stir-fry, malay style Cucumber Sambol, local favourite Sri Lankan fried rice Crab curry, Chicken Kurma, Mutton & Potato brown curry.

The festival has also introduced me to the array of island desserts like Curd and Jaggery Syrup, Sri Lankan-style Fruit Salad, Love Cake, and coconut custard pudding ,Watalappam. We also tried some of the exotic Sri Lankan themed cocktails and mocktail drinks