Significant in taste and messy in presentation, one of the most-loved packets of culture to seduce Lankan tastebuds for decades is the lamprai. What has been a desirous effort, which is a veritable taste sensation, seems to be rather ubiquitous. The first lamprai I ever tasted was the standard offering at DBU, which I personally feel has lost its quality and taste in recent years. While I could wax lyrical about food in general, I must make it a point to state that the lamprai has been an excellent staple that is filling as it is rewarding.
The lomprijst or packet of rice is an absolute labour of love. The original consists of: fragrant rice cooked in meat stock; a mixed meat curry, which combines the flavours of chicken, pork, beef and lamb; blachung; frikkadels; brinjal pahi; and prawn seeni sambol with an ash plantain curry plus a cooling cucumber salad served on the side, outside of the packet.
More modern iterations of the well-loved lamprai caters more towards convenience and flavour with Mad Curry Skills by Chari offering (in my opinion) the best packet of taste for a very reasonable price indeed. Having indulged in a neatly banana-wrapped lamprai over a recent weekend, this new twist offers an excellent packet wrapped with a lot of flavour. You can certainly customize the whole affair by asking for more spices to be involved in the cooking, which I did.
She does pork lamprais on request in addition to the usual chicken and vegetable lamprai as well. There is a minimum order of 5, which you will find is a cinch to go through — I went through 3. Having said that the portions are super generous and do hit that Lankan spot which can be defined as all types of oil and spice while being hot and nice.
But enough with the synonyms and adjectives, let’s zoom in on what you get when you seductively bite your lips and part through those banana leaves. Expect boneless chicken curry, a chicken frikkadel, brinjal pahi, ash plaintain curry, seeni sambol, prawn blachang, a twice-cooked egg, and rice cooked in stock. A bigger plus for me was that coconut oil is used, or as Charindi says: the good stuff!
The ubiquitous lamprai has had its fair share of contentious fanfare with many being up in arms about the originality of what constitutes a ‘real lamprai’. Yet what nowadays is completely original? You’d be hardpressed to find an authentic biriyani these days when retail outlets churn out biriyani mixes.
With food being regarded as a great unifier of sorts, I would rather judge food on its quality, ingredients and taste. Considering all these factors as a scope of judgement, I would state that Charindi’s offerings tick all the correct boxes.
As a side note, it must be mentioned that Mad Curry Skills by Chari also does a Nasi Lemak while she’s also set to introduce rice and curry. Please note that at present, this operation of hers happens only over the weekend.
All in all, Mad Curry Skills by Chari is a godsend with delivery thrown in for a small fee. It’s the perfect option for that lamprai feed on a Saturday or a Sunday when the weekday work grind leaves you hungry for that essential dose of hot comfort food.
For more information on the delicacies offered by Mad Curry Skills by Chari, please get in touch via WhatsApp on +94 (71) 156 6655.
Written by Rohitha Perera