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    Home » Recipes » Blog

    Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita

    June 21, 2018 By Sara McCleary Updated March 16, 2022 - This post may contain affiliate links

    Crowne Plaza Terrigal recently hosted the Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita. A family style dinner showcasing all that Sri Lankan food has to offer.

    The main objective of my recent wintery weekend stay at Crowne Plaza Terrigal was for an introduction to Sri Lankan food. I’m a little ashamed to say that my knowledge of the food from Sri Lanka is pretty minimal. I knew there were curries involved, string hoppers and a good dose of coconut, but that was about it.

    How to grate fresh coconut - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    The man doing the introducing is Peter Kuruvita. A familiar name to most Australians. Peter has run various restaurants throughout his chef’s career as well as being the host of numerous food shows on television.

    He is also author to a handful of well received cookbooks: Serendip, Coastal Kitchen, My Feast and Mexican Fiesta, just to name a few.

    The main event was a multi course family style dinner at Seasalt restaurant. But for those really keen on brushing up on their Sri Lankan food knowledge, there was a masterclass held earlier that afternoon.

    The joys of fresh coconut - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita

    The afternoon masterclass is full of handy tips and tricks, as well as a solid introduction to the base ingredients of Sri Lankan cooking. Peter passionately talks about fresh coconuts or the lack of them in Australia. How the coconut palm is fully utilized from making rope to making cuisine.

    This isn’t a hands on class. It’s a case of sit back, relax and watch Peter do all the work. With plates of his demonstrated recipes making a magical appearance from the kitchen ready for us to try.

    How to stuff and fold a pancake - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita
    Savoury stuffed fried pancake - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita
    Sri Lankan street food - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita

    The first dish is a Sri Lankan egg roll, a popular street food. A folded pancake stuffed with chicken, potato, spices and a boiled egg. The stuffed pancake is then dipped in excess pancake batter, covered in panko crumbs and deep fried.

    Peter showing us how string hoppers are made - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita
    Sweet coconut filling for dessert string hoppers - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita
    Demonstration on how to make string hoppers - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita

    String hoppers filled with a sweet mixture of freshly grated coconut, spices and sugar are the other recipe demonstrated.

    With my initial introduction to Sri Lankan cuisine, I feel I am ready to tackle the multicourse dinner that awaits later that evening.

    Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner
    Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    It’s a full house for dinner, and it is great to see support from many locals as well. The evening starts with a cocktail on arrival. It is a Colombo vodka and Dilmah tea creation (Peter is also an ambassador for Dilmah tea).

    Canapes - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    prawn vadai, devilled crumbed mushrooms, black pepper beef and beetle leaf rolls

    We start with a trio of canapes and the devilled crumbed mushrooms are my favourite. A deep fried mushroom will win me over at the best of times, these ones are stuffed with a mild potato masala, a Aussie and Sri Lankan fusion. The prawn vadai pays homage to a popular street snack in Colombo. It has a curry leaf hit with chili heat. We get a lime and chili kick from the black pepper beef and beetle leaf rolls. Peter came up with these from inspiration from his dad's favourite drink, arac.

    Pappadams - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    pappadams and raita

    Black Tuna Curry - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    black tuna curry with goroka and black pepper

    Peter gives us instructions on how to plate up. A serving of rice in the centre of your plate and then place spoonfuls of curry around the the rice. The goroka in the black tuna curry is an unusal ingredient, not common. Also known as arcinia gummi-gutta, a dried fruit that is used as a souring agent in cooking.

    Cuttlefish in spicy sauce - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    cuttlefish in spicy sauce

    To be honest I don't find any of the dishes all that spicy. Aromatic yes, the cuttlefish in spicy sauce is given a depth via dried prawns in the curry.

    Banana Blossom Curry - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    banana blossom curry

    Sweet Potato Fry - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    sweet potato fry

    The banana blossom curry is quite sour to taste, which surprises me on my initial mouthful. The sweet potato fry is just that.

    Plantain Curry - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    plantain curry

    Beetroot Curry - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    beetroot curry

    The plantain curry is mild, and it is quite surprising (to me) that my favourite curry of the meal is the beetroot curry.

    Devilled Pork - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    devilled pork

    Old fashioned chicken curry - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    old fashioned chicken curry

    The old fashioned chicken curry and devilled pork are both hearty and comforting curries.

    There was also a Malay beef curry, brinjal and dry fish curry and a ridge gourd curry which aren't pictured. I didn't get to taste either the Malay beef curry or the brinjal and dry fish curry, they just didn't make their way to me.

    String Hoppers - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    String hoppers

    String hoppers are served in a savoury capacity with dinner. Unlike our sweet filled ones we had at the masterclass. The idea is to mop up the curries with the hoppers.

    Broken Rice - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    mung bean broken rice and fresh coconut

    Not a fan of the mung bean broken rice, I find it gluggy. Totally different to Asian style fried rices which have awesome crunchy bits in them where the "broken rice" is fried to an inch of its life in a wok.

    Condiments - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    curry leaf sambal, tamarind chutney, green coconut chutney, lime pickle and chilli

    Dessert with Buffalo Curd - Taste of Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita Dinner

    buffalo curd, palmyra palm treacle and coconut crunch

    Dessert is my favourit dish of the dinner. Which is quite surprising for me as I always sway towards savoury. My highlight is the shards of freeze dried pineapple that top the dessert. Sri Lankan love cake is also served with tea or coffee to end the meal.

    Peter Kuruvita has a great love for his Sri Lankan heritage and its cuisine. His passion is obvious and it is this a passion that makes him want to educate and introduce Sri Lankan food to Aussie taste buds.

    So what did I think of Sri Lankan food? I am and always will be a fan of string hoppers, papadums, coconuts and anything fried. The sambals and chutneys are super tasty, but the cuisine in general is a mild one, whereas I prefer punchier curries.

    Sara xxx

    Belly Rumbles was a guest of Crowne Plaza Terrigal, but all opinions remain her own.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lisa Bryan

      July 02, 2018 at 3:47 am

      I've been wanting to travel to Sri Lanka for a long time - I've heard it's beautiful! And it's wonderful to learn of all of these traditional, delicious dishes!

      Reply
    2. Ginny McMeans

      July 02, 2018 at 2:22 am

      You're so lucky to have been able to attend such an interesting event at such a lovely place. What an amazing chef. Thanks for passing on all your lovely photos and introducing me to Sri Lanka cuisine.

      Reply
    3. Jyothi (Jo)

      July 02, 2018 at 2:20 am

      I absolutely love Peter Kuruvita. He's one of my fav chefs and Indian cuisine is so much similar to Sri-Lankan cuisine. We eat all those dishes on everyday basis and nothing can be absolutely comforting that all these dishes

      Reply
    4. Gabi

      July 02, 2018 at 1:34 am

      Thank you, Sara 🙂 Your post brings wonderful memories to me when we first visited Sri Lanka over 20 years ago. I got to know dhal for the first time and tasted many delicious curries. By the way for me the beetroot curry would probably also had been my favorite curry on that "Taste of Sri Lanka" day.

      Reply
    5. Claire

      July 01, 2018 at 10:42 pm

      OH man everything looks delicious, but especially that black tuna curry with goroka and black pepper. I am just loving the sound of that.
      What a wonderful day you had!

      Reply

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    Well hello there! I’m Sara McCleary a food photographer, creative recipe developer, and avid traveller (when the World isn’t in a pandemic).

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