The Lankan Crabs, Bangsar

If crab roe rocks your boat, set sail for The Lankan Crabs and order a serving of Indonesian-sourced female mud crabs cooked in Sri Lanka's Negombo-inspired mild curry (RM140 for two medium-sized crabs, weighing at least 400 grams per crab). The curry is rich with roe in practically every spoonful, complementing the seafood-sweet crustaceans, served with a small bowl of rice cooked with crab stock. Wine is available by the glass to complete the evening.

The Lankan Crabs' head chef formerly worked at Colombo's respected Cinnamon Grand Hotel, so the restaurant also specialises in other Sri Lankan favourites, from kiribath to lamprais.

The Lankan Crabs

4, Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 012-579-4435

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Aliyaa: Jaffna Food Festival, 17-19 February 2020

Thriving for more than a decade, Aliyaa has become Kuala Lumpur's premier Sri Lankan restaurant, introducing a generation of Malaysians to kothu and kiribath, string hoppers and sambol, Colombo-style crabs and Dutch-Burgher-influenced lamprais.

Its inspirations begin with Dr. Parvathy Kanthasamy, the mother of Aliyaa's founder, Abbi Kanthasamy. Now, the story of the Kanthasamy family's culinary life is set to unfold in Aliyaa's Jaffna Food Festival: Culinary Journey to Yalpanam, a series of buffet lunches and dinners scheduled for 17-19 February 2020. The festival will run for lunch at 12pm-230pm (one session) and dinner at 6pm-8pm and 830pm-1030pm (two sessions), costing RM148++ per person.

The festival will showcase more than 50 recipes from Dr. Parvathy's birthplace of Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna Peninsula, with a menu personally curated and cooked by Dr. Parvathy, Aliyaa's head chef Shiva and their veteran kitchen brigade. Expect Jaffna-style mud and sea crabs, fish curries, sambals as well as plenty of vegetarian-friendly recipes.

Aliyaa chef Shiva with Dr. Parvathy on a recent visit to KL

Dr. Parvathy's own journey began in Jaffna, where she began cooking with her mother around the age of 10, first squeezing out simple string hoppers before honing her skills with puttu and more, pounding rice flour and curry powders in their family kitchen.

Thankfully, in Dr. Parvathy's youth, ingredients for their cooking were everywhere in her village. Cows and buffaloes were as abundant as people, so dairy products like curd were a staple. In nearby paddy fields and forests, fruits and vegetables flourished. Seas, streams and lagoons were a stroll away, yielding the fresh, fleshy crabs for which Sri Lanka is now renowned.

Dr. Parvathy later moved to Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo and embarked on her university education in linguistics. Starting a family with two children meant that cooking became even more crucial in her life - Dr. Parvathy harnessed her instinctive understanding of food and learned to adapt whenever necessary, as the family moved from Colombo to Melbourne and California.

Aliyaa (Sinhalese for 'elephant') was first born in a ravishing two-storey bungalow in Damansara Heights in 2007 (it has since shifted to its current shop-lot nearby in Bukit Damansara). Dr. Parvathy helped train the restaurant's Sri Lankan-dominated chefs and innovated whenever they faced ingredient issues such as sourcing red rice flour for string hoppers and puttus.

Fast-forward 13 years later, and Aliyaa remains one of KL's most respected restaurants of any cuisine, cherished for its soulful comfort fare. "People come over and over again for the food - which means they really love the taste, which they won't find anywhere else," Dr. Parvathy says.

If you spot Dr. Parvathy at this month's Jaffna Food Festival, forgive her if she seems frazzled. When Aliyaa last held such an event in 2017, she typically survived on three hours of sleep, working day and night in the kitchen to perfect the cooking.

"I love to see people eating and enjoying the food," Dr. Parvathy stresses. Now living in Canada, she still cooks in the morning, bringing food to senior citizens in nursing homes while also working with mentally ill and vulnerable people. She also continues to guide Aliyaa's culinary crew, dedicated in sending recipes and engaging in long-distance phone conversations about how to execute them.

Dr. Parvathy's passion for cooking has remained the foundation for Aliyaa's triumphs. Her Amma Crab - cooked with roasted coconut milk that's simmered with garam masala over a low fire - has become a fixture on Aliyaa's a la carte menu. Aliyaa expects that several other exclusive recipes from its upcoming Jaffna Food Festival will also be embraced into its permanent menu later this year, so this is your opportunity for an advance preview.

"Jaffna food is is very different from, say, South Indian and North Indian food. We use a lot of protein, we use coconuts as our main ingredient. Our curries are outstanding. Everything is very flavourful - you can taste the fresh mangoes, for example," Dr. Parvathy says.

"You will love the food, and you will feel like you are in the heavens."

Aliyaa

48 G&M, Jalan Medan Setia 2, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-2092-5378

Jaffna Food Festival to run 17-19 February 2020. Food photos are from 2017 edition of Aliyaa's similar event.

Dyllon's Kitchen, Dutamas Raya

Dyllon's Kitchen celebrates how the comfort of cooking can bring people closer together, crossing countries and cultures. Sri Lankan native Dyllon Ekanayake and his Malaysian wife Bibi welcome potential new friends to their beautiful home for meals that promise a nourishing introduction to the robust cuisine of Dyllon's birth nation; if you're seeking a refreshing change from restaurant excursions, this private kitchen experience is both deliciously and distinctively memorable.

Dyllon, a former deejay, discovered a passion and prowess for the culinary arts eight years ago, when he began feeling homesick for his homeland's cuisine after moving to Malaysia. Researching his mother's classic recipes, he embarked on efforts to recreate them in KL, which led him to found this supper club to acquaint more people with Sri Lankan traditional fare; he and Bibi have since served everyone from Malaysians to travellers from Lithuania and beyond. Thankfully, Bibi has a natural talent for food too, hailing originally from Kelantan, a state whose people also cherish their time-honoured specialities.

Dyllon's Kitchen offers dinner by reservation, the culmination of hours of preparation ahead of the evening. Produce is freshly purchased and prepared during the day, with the menu reliant on what's best available. Dyllon draws from a repertoire of dozens of dishes, so each encounter here could be entirely different; when we visited, our meal kicked off with coconut-laced pol roti coupled with katta sambol, plus boiled tapioca with chicken jus, and crunchy sardine cutlets speckled with potatoes.

Dyllon is meticulous about authenticity; he returns to Colombo every couple of months, bringing back to Malaysia much of the ingredients necessary to replicate the genuine flavours and textures of Sri Lanka. The katta sambol, for example, contains Maldive fish, a cured tuna with an unmistakable potency that's not typically sold in Malaysia, while the sardine cutlets are brightened with a blend of spices such as cardamom that Dyllon also sources from Sri Lanka, since their specific nuances are unlike their Malaysian counterparts. Black tea tinged with cinnamon is the perfect accompaniment.

Dyllon also abides by Ayurvedic principles for his cooking, which stands out for being purposefully wholesome. Salt is sparingly used, oil is carefully chosen, MSG is shunned; free-range chicken and organic vegetables are emphasised, mindfully prepared with a respect for balance and health, cleaned and cooked purely with alkaline water. The process is painstaking, but Dyllon believes the benefits merit the cost; he's a thriving testament to his own cooking, looking a full decade younger than his years.

For guests unfamiliar with Sri Lankan's culinary spectrum, a meal here is a revelation, showcasing contrasts with the heritage of South Asian neighbours like India that Malaysians know more intimately. The complexities of chicken and mutton curries are buoyantly uplifting, with clean-flavoured spices complementing slow-cooked meat, evoking the loving taste of home, rich with coriander and cumin. Throughout each course, Dyllon explains how they're concocted, ensuring we leave with a better understanding of Sri Lankan gastronomy; for these alluringly aromatic curries, homemade sun-dried curry powders are utilised, with roasted powder the ideal match for the depth of meat, while milder unroasted powder is preferred for fish and vegetables.

Portions are fulfilling; our curries, their lingering heat paired with fluffy Kashmiri basmati rice, were rounded out by a trifecta of side plates, each winning in their own way, from compellingly creamy pumpkin to crisp, turmeric-tossed bitter gourd strings to lightly tangy claypot-cooked eggplant moju. Amazingly, this hearty feast completely satisfied us without making us sluggish.

A simple ice cream is made extra enjoyable with Sri Lanka's treasured kithul treacle, a palm syrup with captivating smoky notes. The hours flew by for this meal, with Dyllon engaging us with warm personal conversations that both enlightened and entertained. Dyllon and Bibi are the perfect hosts, ensuring that even strangers feel comfortably at home.

Dyllon's Kitchen can be conveniently booked through three methods:
A. On social media through https://www.instagram.com/dyllonskitchen.x.ceylon2u - Dyllon can also be contacted at +6013-300-39999
B. On PlateCulture at https://plateculture.com/where-to-eat/dyllons-kitchen-est
C. On Lokalocal at https://www.lokalocal.com/tour/2895/sri-lankan-private-dining-with-a-healthy-twist

Many thanks to Dyllon and Bibi for having us here.

Dyllon's Kitchen is at an apartment in Dutamas Raya, a short drive from areas like Mont Kiara and Segambut. Dyllon also runs a Sri Lankan and Lebanese fusion kitchen once a week with a Lebanese home chef.

This feature first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

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RaamRavan @ Desa ParkCity

For fans of time-honoured South Asian fare, RaamRavan is a distinctive destination, promising cherished classics not only from across India but Sri Lanka as well, with a nod or two to the Maldives too. As illustrated by a strikingly beautiful mural within this restaurant, RaamRavan is named for the two figures whose conflict fuels the Ramayana epic, though the venue itself is a labour of love, helmed by a Malaysian couple whose ancestries span both Indian and Sri Lankan lineages, harmoniously bringing together recipes from those nations. Step inside and it's certainly one of the most intriguingly furnished eateries in Desa ParkCity's Plaza Arkadia, with mud walls and a thatched-roof counter meant to evoke a rustic village scene.

Head here hungry, since there's plenty to sample: Start with the Sri Lankan rice flour hoppers, which come in a variety of flavours, served with everything from mutton kheema to coconut milk or even Nutella or bananas. You won't go wrong with the simple pleasures of an egg hopper for a savoury choice (RM7.90) or with Gula Melaka for a sweet one (RM6.90), brought out fresh, warm and well-textured, crisp on the edges, tender at their centre, tasty through and through.

Doughy delights rule too, with everything from paratha to poori accounted for. RaamRavan's repertoire is extensive, so you'll find no fewer than 10 types of thosai here - the ghee roast (RM6.90) seems like the ideal introduction, showcasing confidently executed fundamentals. A potato masala paratha (RM10.90) or green pea masala poori (RM9.90) would also work for a light, fuss-free lunch in this casual, comfortable setting.

The best way to experience RaamRavan is nonetheless through a communal feast, by ordering a bunch of small plates. Interesting offerings include the deep-fried battered bitter gourd, an addictive snack balanced with soothingly mellow mint chutney (RM15), traditional chunky steamed tapioca with pol sambol (RM12), a vibrant Asiatic pennywort salad with shredded coconut, cashews and watermelon (RM18), and crab curry kottu, a filling bowl of starchy chopped godhamba roti (RM20). Eating here is an engaging journey through the spectrum of South Asian cooking, highlighting the region's diverse ingredients and preparation styles, with a range of nuances that comprise both the familiar and the less-known for most Malaysians.

The kitchen's capabilities are evident throughout the rice dishes as well, which confidently harness a mouth-watering medley of spices and seasonings. If you're here on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays, have the lamprais, the Sri Lankan temptation not widely available in the Klang Valley, featuring rice wrapped in banana leaf, mixed with dal, ash plantains, boiled egg, eggplant, and a choice of chicken, fish or mutton (RM27-RM29) - in other words, loaded with deliciousness. It takes lots of time and work to prepare, which is why it's only offered three days every week.

A sense of careful authenticity permeates all these pleasures, including hearty rice platters whose inspirations stretch from Kandy to Kerala, from Kandyan devilled mutton (RM29) to Keralan prawn sambal (RM27).

A full bar is available at RaamRavan - a distinctive coconut cocktail features fresh coconut and coconut water, while other more refreshing tropical crowd-pleasers include the watermelon Martini. Teetotalers can opt for the likes of a mango lassi, or perhaps milk tea made with Sri Lankan tea powder. The faluda works as either drink or dessert, heaped with milk, ice cream, rose syrup and basil seeds.

Many thanks to RaamRavan for having us here.

RaamRavan

Ground Floor, Hutton Block, Plaza Arkadia, Desa Parkcity, 52200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Open Monday-Friday, 830am-11pm; Saturday-Sunday, 8am-11pm. Tel: 012-249-1143

This feature first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

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