Lamprais or lomprijst, which in the Dutch language roughy translates to “a packet of rice”, is the pride of the Sri Lankan Dutch Burgher community. It comprises of centuries old recipes developed during the Dutch colonization period, the flavors hint to it’s Dutch origins with a strong Indonesian influence given the typical Sri Lankan spice treatment. The pack contains a portion of ghee rice accompanied by a mixed meat curry, eggplant pahi, sweet and spicy onion-chili fry, prawn blachan, and beef frikadels, all wrapped up in a banana leaf and baked till all the flavors infuse.

Mixed meat or four meat curry

The mixed meat traditionally comprises of 4 meats: mutton, beef, chicken and pork, but there are many variations depending on the Burgher family tradition; thus some recipes may add liver or prawn and/or omit one of the previously mentioned meats.

Eggplant/brinjal pahi

This dish is a mix of fried eggplant, green chilies and onion cooked in a pickling mixture of vinegar, sugar and ground mustard.

Seenisambal or Chili Onion fry

This item is the most Sri Lankan amongst all the other items. A popular accompaniment to many other dishes such as hoppers and stringhoppers. Onions are fried in spice mix of mainly chili flakes And heavy heat of the chillies is perfectly balanced out with a souring agent such as tamarind and with the sweetness of sugar, which by the way, gives the dish it’s local name “seenisambal” or sugar sambol.

Prawn Blachan

This dish is definitely of Indonesian influence. Much like it’s Indo-Malay counterpart, it comprises of ground dried prawn and other ingredients; again recipes defer depending on family tradition.

Beef Frikadels

This is probably the only Dutch component in the pack. Frikedels are crumbed and fried balls of ground beef with distinct flavors of ground spices such as cinnamon and cloves and of fennel leaf.

Ghee rice

For the most authentic Lamprais, the best quality Suduru Samba rice is a must. Suduru Samba has a tiny, oval shaped rice grain and is distinct in taste and cooking quality from its long grain compatriots. The rice is cooked in ghee (fat made from cows’ milk) and stock of parboiled meats used to make the mixed meat curry. Spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and cloves take center stage in this dish.

Banana leaves

Though not eaten, the banana leaf is the hero of the Lamprais packet. The baking not only infuses spice flavors into the rice, it infuses the flavor of the banana leaf into all items within the packet. The aroma that wafts from a freshly opened pack of Lamprais is unmatched. Thus it’s not surprising that cooking food inside a banana leaf is a fairly common practice in many Asian cultures.