'The Locals Kitchen Sri Lanka': Recipes from coconut stirfry to prawn curry

By Jon Lewin

(Photography by Jon Lewin)

After first visiting Sri Lanka in 2004, writer and photographer Jon Lewin was there when the devastating Boxing Day tsunami hit the region and owes his survival to the kindness of the Sri Lankan people, with whom he forged lifelong bonds.

More than a decade later, Lewin wrote the first in his series of documentary style cookbooks, which tell the stories of local people through their food.

The Locals Kitchen: Sri Lanka has been republished with stories, 15 new local recipes and more travel photography of the country, along with sections on equipment and conversion charts.

Dinky’s coconut stir fry

250g fresh grated coconut
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp roasted fenugreek seeds (crushed)
½ tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
100ml water
1 red onion (roughly chopped)
1 fresh green chilli (roughly chopped)
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 piece goraka​
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
1 inch piece rampe​
2 tomatoes (diced) a handful of fresh coriander

This one is super easy to prepare. First grate coconut and to this add turmeric, roasted fenugreek, curry powder, salt and pepper. Mix well by hand and set aside. Take a small frying pan and place on a medium heat then add water. Once boiling, add red onion, green chilli, garlic, goraka and curry leaves then mix thoroughly.

Turn to a low heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The water should have evaporated and you’ll be able to hear sizzling, which is the ingredients starting to fry. Now add the tomatoes and spiced coconut mix and gently fry for a further 3 minutes.

Garnish with fresh coriander if using and serve. A super simple dish to prepare, with a mellow flavour that compliments many dishes.

Sri Lankan roti

Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 10 mins

Serves 4

500g plain flour
1 tsp salt
150ml vegetable oil
125ml water
½ red onion (finely diced)
1 green chilli (finely chopped)
Handful of fresh coriander (roughly chopped)

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix together using your fingers or a whisk. Create a small well in the middle of the flour and add the vegetable oil.

Next, add the water, a little at a time, and knead into a soft elastic dough. You may need a few extra tablespoons of oil if the dough feels tough. It should be soft and slightly sticky.

Knead the dough for around 60 seconds. Try not to knead for much longer than this as it will become too tough. Mix in red onion, green chillies and fresh coriander until its evenly distributed.

Place back into the mixing bowl, cover with oil and a wet tea towel and allow to rest at room temperature for approximately 1 hour.

Oil your work surface and divide the dough into four equal balls then cover each with oil. Press the balls between your palms to flatten them, one at a time, creating a disc shape.

Continue flattening each disc on your oiled work surface, then pick up a disc and throw down on to the surface. (This action stretches the dough.) Repeat until the dough is a few millimetres thick.

Place a large frying pan on a medium heat and dry fry each roti for 3-4 minutes on each side and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Anoma’s prawn curry

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 20 min

Serves 4

3 tbsp coconut oil
20-25 large raw unshelled prawns
½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp roasted fenugreek seeds
1 sprig fresh curry leaves
1 tsp roasted curry powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
½ cinnamon stick
10cm piece rampe (pandan leaf)
5-6 fresh green chillies (roughly chopped)
2 fresh tomatoes (diced)
2 x 400ml tins of coconut milk
Juice of ¾ of a lime
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Handful of fresh coriander leaves

Place a wok on a high heat and add the coconut oil. Once sizzling, flash-fry your prawns for 1-2 minutes until coloured nicely. This extra cooking stage will give the finished dish a deeper flavour.

Add all the remaining ingredients except the coconut milk and lime juice to the wok and stir together thoroughly, ensuring the prawns are evenly coated. Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes.

Add the coconut milk (and prawn extract, if using – see below) and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes, or until the oil starts to separate.

Take off the heat, allow to cool slightly, add in the lime juice and stir to combine. Season to taste and finish with a handful of coriander leaves, if using, then serve.

I tend to leave the prawns intact but you can add extra flavour to this dish by deheading and peeling the prawns after flash-frying them and making what is known as prawn extract.

Simply slow roast the prawn heads and tails, then crush them up into a powder. Prawn extract can also be stored in an airtight container for up to three months and added to any fish curry to enhance its flavour.

(Jon Lewin (Jon Lewin)

About Anoma

One of the loveliest women I have ever met, Anoma is the eldest of three children, and from a young age watched her family cooking. These important traditional skills and recipes were passed down through the generations.

At the age of 23, Anoma married Jayathunga (a total legend) and they bought a piece of land in Tissamaharama, in the southeast of Sri Lanka.

In 2004, they set up the successful Elephant Camp Guest House. From here, Jaya can organise a trip to Yala National Park with some of the best guides on the island.

Anoma is a talented and passionate cook, who has developed her traditional Sri Lankan cooking methods over the years. She grows all of her own vegetables, and aspires to teach cooking classes in the future.

(Jon Lewin (Jon Lewin)

Taste the recipes and see for yourself – the east coast recipes are all straight from her kitchen.

About Dinky

Dinky is Sujith’s wife and the daughter of the main man Rasika. She’s from the same school of thought as her husband food-wise: she’s experimental, she has to have the freshest of ingredients and she is super passionate.

The whole family is a great team together in the kitchen with Rasika and even Bivon (their 4-year-old son) loves food.

I’ve spent many a time eating Bivon’s pretend food that he’s made that day, normally samosas or chicken curry like his parents make.

He’s a little legend with a good heart just like the rest of the family.

Extracted from ‘The Locals Kitchen: Sri Lanka’, written and photographed by Jon Lewin. Published by Eat Media (£20)