When we were staying at Madulkelle (which was wonderful as stated repeatedly in my post about it) there were many optional activities on offer, one of which was learning to cook a traditional Sri Lankan curry – which we of course jumped at (for 3500rps / £15 each).

We met the chef’s at 11.30 and were taken for a guided tour around their vegetable garden, which is lovely.

Once we had a full basket of fresh veg we headed off to start cooking, and one step closer to eating! They showed us to the outdoor kitchen and talked us through the spread of wonderful spices and ingredients, most of which sounded familiar but we were all a little surprised when they told us it was barracuda in the fish curry!

We were cooking in the traditional style using terracotta pots over burning coconut shells. We helped with the prep, sort of (my beans were of course cut perfectly), and started cooking off the spices. The smells were amazing, even if it was a little smokey. The chefs were great, explaining each step and answering all of our questions.

And the end result was delicious! We made a fish curry, dahl curry (my favourite), snakegord salad and tempered beans. And what finished it off was getting to eat it in such lovely surroundings underneath the thatched roof.

The dahl was definitely my favourite, here’s the ingredient’s

• 400g yellow lentils
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 inch piece pandan leaf
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tbsp chilli powder
• salt
• 200ml thick coconut milk