A spicy food affair

BIG APPLE Restaurant is holding its inaugural Sri Lankan Seafood Festival for weekday lunch, weekend hi-tea, and daily dinner buffets throughout this month.
Tuck into authentic Sri Lankan food prepared by two talented chefs from Berjaya Hotel Colombo.
Chefs J.M.D.K. Jayawardhana and H.L.M Hettiarachchi are showcasing their island nation’s sinfully sweet desserts and bountiful seafood-inspired dishes, such as brinjal moju, fish ambulthiyal with gravy, prawns mellum, and of course, crab curry.
According to area general manager Mondi Mecja, this festival is to give their guests and customers a world-class dining experience.
“We would like Malaysia to try different delicacies from around Asia, and we’re starting with Sri Lanka,” he said at a recent food-tasting event, which was graced by Sri Lankan High Commissioner A.J.M. Muzammil, and Youth and Sports deputy minister Datuk M. Saravanan.
Muzammil said: “[With] the Sri Lankan Seafood Festival, we hope that more Malaysians will be able to further understand Sri Lankan culture and food.”
The nation’s cuisine is often confused with that of its larger neighbour, India, but it has its own distinct flavours, influenced by Indian, Indonesian, and Dutch cooking.

Take for example the brinjal moju. First impressions might fool you into thinking the pickled eggplant is just a plain vegetable dish, but a bite of the dark purple mush will hand you a knockout savoury punch, with a lingering heat that creeps up later.
Unlike most Indian curries where you can almost taste the powdery residue of ground spices, the Sri Lankan version is lighter, while still maintaining a liberal use of cardamom, cumin, and chilli powder.
What is distinct in the fish ambulthiyal with gravy, or Sri Lankan sour fish curry, is a bright acidic element cutting through the thick curry that coats generous chunks of firm fish.
Look forward also to getting your hands dirty with whole crabs, cooked gently in a lighter version of the gravy, as you crack open orange shells to reveal sweet succulent crabmeat.
Another dish contending as a crowd-pleaser is the prawns mellum. Perfectly cooked prawns tossed in a light seasoning of turmeric, spices, and shredded coconut make this an easy dish to love.
The month-long promotion will also feature a hopper station, where diners can patiently wait for fresh, hot egg hoppers or appam to be prepared for them.
Egg hopper is a deliciously simple Sri Lankan version of a rice flour pancake with a runny egg in the middle, that you’ll definitely want to boomerang on your Instagram story and #foodporn.
According to Hettiarachchi, sago pudding dessert is a favourite delicacy.
“Sago pudding – which is sago with honey and coconut milk – is a speciality of Sri Lanka,” he said.
“In Sri Lankan food, we’re always using coconut milk [and] different flours like rice flour.”
One other must-try for sugar junkies is the tangy curd treacle, made from buffalo milk and palm sugar, that provides a familiar sweet mouthful.
More exciting dishes you don’t want to miss are pol sambol (shredded coconut sambal), lunu miris (hot and sour sambal paste), chicken kalupol curry, gotukola sambol (Sri Lankan Kerabu salad), and a medley of other fresh greens, roast chicken, and a deep-blue seafood on ice display.
Also available to wash down all the good food is refreshing Ceylon tea from famed family tea company Dilmah.
That’s not all. Diners who spent a minimum of RM888 nett in a receipt will be entitled to a lucky draw which ends on April 30.
The grand prize is a holiday package for two, comprising a flight on Sri Lankan Airlines and a four-day three-night hotel stay at Berjaya Hotel Colombo.
What’s more, four full paying adults can eat for the price of three as part of a special offer, and if you’re a Maybank creditcard holder, you’ll be entitled to a 30% discount.
For more, visit the Berjaya Times Square Hotel website.