Sri Lankan cuisine is incredibly diverse and reflects both our cultural heritage and our geographical location at the crossroads of various trade routes. The result is that Lankan cuisine is a unique blend of food cultures characterised by a wide array of flavours, spices, ingredients, and cooking techniques influenced by the country’s indigenous traditions as well as those of India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Middle East, and Europe. 

Today, we don’t always realise that some of what we consider staples of the Sri Lankan table came from other countries and cultures that have integrated with ours. Take the Sri Lankan Malays, for example – an ethnic community descended from Malay soldiers, traders, and exiles who arrived in Sri Lanka during the colonial period from present day Malaysia and Indonesia. 

Sri Lankan Malays have contributed much to our local food culture, from the distinctly Malay dishes like satay to the more innocuous dishes like dodol. The cuisine of the Sri Lankan Malays is diverse and individual families may have their own unique recipes and specialities passed down through generations.

Raleena Veero

Malay Jiving

Cinnamon Grand Colombo has harnessed this diversity to create a new food experience – Malay Jiving: Food, Music, and Fun. A buffet-style hawker street-inspired Sri Lankan Malay food festival, Malay Jiving sees Cinnamon Grand with veteran Sri Lankan Malay home cook Raleena Veero. 

Malay Jiving is part of a larger effort to showcase more of Sri Lankan food’s local diversity – highlighting the different cuisines our country has to offer and also looking at the food heritage of some of the different Sri Lankan ethnic communities. 

Ahead of Malay Jiving, which takes place from 23-29 June, The Sunday Morning Brunch sat down with Raleena Veero for a quick chat on what to expect from the food festival. Hailing from Wattala, Raleena has been cooking since she was a child, helping her mother and grandmother in the kitchen. She has grown up on authentic Malay recipes and perfected these to her own personal style over the years to become signature dishes that not only her family but people all around Colombo love. 

Working with the team at Cinnamon Grand, Raleena has curated an expansive menu of Sri Lankan Malay dishes and will be stepping into the Cinnamon Grand kitchens on the days of the festival to guide the Cinnamon teams in crafting these dishes. 

Malay food and Sri Lankan food

Speaking to Raleena, we observed that many of the dishes we normally associated with the Sri Lankan Muslim community in general actually stemmed from Sri Lankan Malay cuisine. The famous watalappam, for instance, is a Malay dish. One of the staples at any Sri Lankan food centre, pittu, is also a Malay dish. 

Commenting on how Malay food has become so ingrained into our local palettes, Raleena shared that it was likely that Malay food found its way into larger Sri Lankan menus because of how closely the Malay and Sri Lankan Muslim communities had always interacted with each other, often being based in the same parts of cities like Colombo and Galle and even in Wattala where she hailed from. 

On what defines May cuisine, Raleena shared that Sri Lankan Malay food was a fusion of Malay, Indonesian, Indian, and Sri Lankan culinary traditions. It incorporates aromatic spices, coconut milk, and a variety of herbs and condiments. The cuisine showcases dishes such as curries, rice, noodles, sambols, and various snacks and desserts.

For Malay Jiving, the menu she has curated includes Malay street food favourites like pasthols (giant patties, usually stuffed with beef), vegetable dishes like kaliya (the addictive dry spiced eggplant and ash plantain curry), more traditionally Malaysian dishes like beef rendang, satay, and chuka daging, the ever-famous Malay beef baabath (tripe curry), and desserts like pineapple dosi, sillarey, bol, and pirni. 

As someone who grew up learning these recipes from her family and then passing it on to her own family, Raleena shared that she cooked from the heart. Her recipes aren’t written down, her quantities are unspecified. She cooks by feel, by instinct, and from experience, and she hopes to create the same magical feeling of eating home-cooked Malay food at Malay Jiving with the support of the Cinnamon team. 

Malay Jiving: Food, Music, and Fun takes place from 23-29 June at The Courtyard, Cinnamon Grand and costs Rs. 6,500 per person. For more information or to make reservations contact Cinnamon Grand Colombo.