‘YAAL VIRINDU’ Jaffna Food Festival Returns To Ramada

Prawns Tempered in Gingerly Oil

“At the dinner buffet hosted by Ramada and catered by My Sister’s Kitchen, the space was transformed to pay homage to the North with a grand spread of over 60 items with four action stations, a  salad bar and a dessert corner

Ramada hosted its much-awaited ‘Yaal Viridnu – Jaffna Food Festival’ for the fourth consecutive year from 28th -30th November and 1st December  2024 in collaboration with My Sister’s Kitchen.  The buffet spread was a diverse showcase of authentic Jaffna dishes in which the rich flavours of Northern Sri Lanka were brought to the heart of the city. 

“Yaal Virindu”, meaning the “Joy of Jaffna” in the Tamil language is a celebration of the bold and distinct flavours and cooking style of Jaffna cuisine.  And no-one does it quite as well as Thushara Innasitthamby,  the home cook and founder of My Sister’s Kitchen who has carved a name for herself as a go-to for those in search of authentic Jaffna style dishes in Colombo with over a decade in the industry. 

At the dinner buffet hosted by Ramada and catered by My Sister’s Kitchen, the space was transformed to pay homage to the North with a grand spread of over 60 items with four action stations, a  salad bar and a dessert corner. 

For starters, there were three soups and a salad bar with 10 varieties. We opted for their Jaffna Kool, the once ‘poor man’s meal’ that is now a signature Jaffna dish. The salads included a variety of sambols such as Karawila Fried Sambol, Ash Plantain Sambol, Prawn Varai, Raw Pathola Sambol, Fried Fish Sambol, Murunga Kola Mallung and more. 

The action stations, which were one of our favourite aspects of the festival, featured a frying action station where snacks like Fried Kos Ata, Keselmuwa Cutlets, fried Sea Crabs, Kadala Vade and Ulundu Vade were fried crisp to order. The other action stations served hot Hoppers (plain, milk & egg), Thosai (plain & egg) and Pittu (Keerai & plain) with all its signature sides such as Idli, Sambar, gingerly oil omelette, tempered and ground pol sambola and more. 

For the mains, the buffet offered nearly 20 vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes which were served with carbs such as Uppama, tempered string hoppers, pol rotti and rice. We tried string hoppers with a spicy Mutton & Chicken poriyal with the distinct flavour of Jaffna curry powder together with Fish Head White Curry and Brinjal White Curry. We dove into the Uppama with Jaffna Crab Curry, Raja Ala Red Curry and Cuttlefish curry and didn’t hesitate to go back for thirds with Pol Rotti, Prawns in Gingerly Oil and Ladies Finger Red Curry made with tamarind.  

After that feast, there was very little room for dessert, but we couldn’t resist trying little samples of the Payasam, Pongal rice and their Rasavalli Kanji for a sweet ending to our meal. 

Overall, it was a fantastic experience to indulge in the rich and bold flavours of Jaffna style cooking and learn small details about the culinary history and techniques that have shaped this cuisine over the years–all the while trying to convince ourselves we can’t possibly eat more even though we most certainly did. 

Speaking to us about the festival, Executive Chef of Ramada Colombo – Chef Kalpa Perera shared that, “we are thrilled to continue the tradition of collaborating with My Sister’s Kitchen to celebrate Yaal. This year, we had a fantastic selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes made by Thushara that truly reflects the authentic flavours of Jaffna.  The festival is a much-anticipated event by our guests and this year’s festival was no different. We got a great turnout and we are thankful to our guests who made it a success.” 

Jaffna Crab Curry

Fried Fish Sambol

Mutton Poriyal