A real treat
View(s):Serving authentic lamprais alongside a variety of sweet and savoury goods, the Dutch Grocer has earned a reputation for delicious food
By Smriti Daniel
Driving down Stratford Avenue, Kirulapone, it’s hard to miss the sign declaring that ‘The Dutch Grocer is open for business’. In fact, since they launched in August, the little store has earned a reputation for delicious lamprais – authentic in every detail except size. That they’re larger than they’re supposed to be isn’t something owner Rohan Buultjens is wild about, but his customers love the hearty servings.
Cricket fans will recognise Rohan’s name – the St. Peter’s College alumnus who captained Sri Lanka’s under-20 team and under-19 sides in the 1980s, but now lives in Australia. Rohan Moonemale is co-owner of the Dutch Grocer. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Rohan says he first thought of opening up shop when he noticed the growing gap between authentic lamprais and their more common modern counterparts. “They were just using that name to sell their product,” says Rohan, who wanted to “show people what an authentic lamprais was.”
The lamprais sold at the Dutch Grocer are based on a recipe that comes from his mother and her mother before her (“it’s a family recipe that has come down from generations”) and include seven elements: a meat (traditionally a mix of beef, pork and chicken) but also available as only chicken and dry chicken curry, brinjal pahi, seeni sambol, belachan, fried ash plantain, cutlets and the specially prepared lamprais rice cooked in stock, all wrapped up in a banana leaf. They choose between two types of samba rice traditionally used in lamprais and go with whatever is available. Rohan says he abhors the idea of including a boiled egg or a chicken leg in the traditional treat and says the key to getting it right is dicing the meat so that it remains delicately bite sized. Their lamprais are already quite popular – on their Facebook page, well satisfied customers say they’ve taken the frozen lamprais abroad, kept them for weeks and reheated them to find they were still delicious.
Aside from the savoury treats, the Dutch Grocer is also exploring the sweet side of things. December was a busy time for them and they turned out batches of love cake, light Breudher and cupcakes to meet the seasonal demand. For his part, Rohan is a dedicated Breudher man and recommends you try them fresh with butter and a nice old cheese. He says they’re contemplating meeting popular demand and making the ‘Dutch Christmas cake’ a year round offering.
Since they would like to include fusion food on their menu, they’ve also begun experimenting with unusual chutneys. “It’s not the everyday stuff you get here,” says Rohan, explaining that among their offerings are bottles of date and billing and pumpkin and mint chutneys. (Their stock was sold out by the end of the year.) Later this year, they hope to introduce lunch meals as well as sweet specialities like Bolo Fiado – the Portuguese style layer cake with stewed pineapple.
Though Rohan isn’t always in the country, the place is run by Sugandhi Edirisinghe, a cheerful artist whose pretty paintings are displayed on the walls. Rohan stays in touch with the business over the internet and relies on a strong team of seven to keep things running behind the scenes. To keep the flavours true though Rohan turns to childhood memories of family sitting down together to savour delicious, abundant homemade food: “It brought family together. It’s always been like that in our family. It was never about cooking for just two people, there was always extra,” he says.
Lamprais are priced at Rs.390 and the Special Love Cake with fruit is Rs.1,100 for 600g. Find The Dutch Grocer online at http://www.facebook.com/TheDutchGrocer or call them on +94 770173062.
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