Taking a flavoursome journey of the north
A local sweet treat: Bhoondhi. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
If you want to learn more about a region’s culture- dig into its cuisine. Like any other culinary expedition, a 360o sampling of authentic Jaffna cooking is a reflection of the north’s history and society, of over 200 different recipes contributed by the different regions and castes. For a harmonious compromise between authentic and contemporary Jaffna fare, head on over to Ozo’s “Taste of Jaffna” dinner buffet. Every Sunday, for Rs. 2700 net per person, you get to explore traditional favourites along with a few of the Hotel’s Jaffna inspired dishes.
Chef P. Kamalendran and the team behind the array make sure that the soups, salads and curries are 100% Northern in their use of flours, spices and vegetables. But, keeping in mind the popularity of their buffet with their foreign guests has softened the usually expected heat and spice of Jaffna cuisine, nevertheless making up for it with the ferris wheel of flavours one gets to experience in a single serving.
First up is a selection of breads- a hotel staple, followed close by steaming Koozh. This signature dish is often the first we think of (next to the addictive vadai and thosai), when the topic of Jaffna cuisine comes up. Made with four types of seafood, the gooey broth, thickened with palmyra flour was a hearty beginning to the rest of a guilt free, gluttonous evening. The legendary soup is often considered the backbone of Jaffna cuisine, and was a literal ‘one pot’ of sweet, sour, tangy and spicy lacing of soft chunks of seafood.
The buffet also hosts a variety of salads- both authentic and inventive along with a colourful palette of pickles. The range extended from local favourites like guava, olive to starfruit and pickled orange peel. Among the salads was Ozo’s tribute to the North with Yaal Fish and chicken-grape salads and sweet tangy okra salads with hints of brinjal (eggplant pahi).
Curries for both the hearty carnivore to warming vegetable stews and curries are in abundance. Conveniently stationed between the selections of curries is a station dishing out paper thin, crispy-at-the touch thosais and a platter of vadais. Between the soft idlis, string hoppers, rice, other carbs and the sea of curries the buffet can intimidate even the most persistent of appetites. A small comfort about the generously flavourful fare is the detail and care given to the health value of Jaffna cuisine. The combination of heating and cooling ingredients and the Jaffna natives’ philosophy of food and medicine can be seen in the kurakkan, palmyra flour and herbs that grace most of the dishes.
A clear favourite: The traditional Jaffna crab curry
Another clear favourite was the crab and mutton curries. Despite their red hot façade, both dishes carried a subtle fiery flavour, more an exploration of tangy tomatoes and a refreshing use of herbs, which was an unexpected twist to the otherwise heavy dishes. The buffet’s big star however was the unassuming pickled rice. The perfect base for the vibrant curries, the green rice dish, steeped in lime pickle was key in maintaining the meal’s lightness, long after the telltale of oily fingers and succulent crab claws are taken away.
Its probably with this image in mind that the chefs have also included a range of shooters- one with a curd base and the other, of fruit. The shot glass of zesty curd or mango is a mini palate cleanser and cuts the richness of the meal.
To end the flavoursome evening, is a splay of traditional desserts. Indulge in some cooling payasam. The pudding, with the consistency of sago pudding is made of cooling green gram and with the occasional strands of vermicelli, which makes it a surprisingly rejuvenating end to the evening. Or maybe try their not so traditional crème caramel. Hardly a Jaffna staple, the wobbly caramel is soft to the touch and is easily the creamy payasam’s western cousin. Among the other favourites are halwa, ladoo and every child at heart’s favourite- boondi.
Backed by the strains of the veena and tabla not to mention the friendly service, “Taste of Jaffna” has managed to encapsulate the North’s culinary heritage with a touch of contemporary Jaffna.
Traditional favourite: Odiyal kool
‘Taste of Jaffna’ is on every Sunday at EAT (OZO Colombo) from 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.