How do our food experts cook and eat? Home baker and amateur food photographer Amal of @thunapahadiaries takes our Q&A!

Your favourite food shot?
That’s a tough one. Out of the shots I’ve taken recently, I think this outdoor shot of macarons is my favourite. I generally shoot indoors in my little studio, but this was so different to what I normally do. It was fun walking out in the woods/fields trying to figure out how the light was behaving and trying to find a setting that was aesthetically appealing to me.

What was your favourite childhood meal?
Growing up we used to always buy hot cross buns on Good Friday. I have been making them every good Friday for the last 4-5 years simply out of nostalgia. Being thousands of miles away from home, I find doing things like that help combat homesickness.

Your proudest food invention?
Recently, I developed a spiced date cake with a toffee sauce. I think it came out great.

You call yourself an amateur food photographer but your pictures are stunning! How would you describe your style when it comes to food photography? 
Thank you very much! I really do enjoy food photography and I’m constantly trying to find my own voice as a food photographer. My style is mostly “dark and moody”, and I draw a lot of inspiration from the “chiaroscuro” technique used in paintings. 

Dead or alive, who would be your dream dinner-party guests? 
Mary Berry, since she is the queen of home-baking and Audrey Hepburn because she’s my all-time favourite actress! 

Your first memory of cooking? 
It’s not really cooking but my earliest memory of being in the kitchen is going to my grandmother’s house with my mother and two sisters to bake our annual Christmas cake.

Any particular cooking habits? 
Whenever I’m cooking a complete meal, I like to start off by cooking the easiest dishes first and to keep the more challenging ones to the end. 

If I gave you Rs. 500 for a proper meal – what would you make? 
-Roast paan, parippu and pol sambol. Yum!! 

A dish you love to eat but never cook? 
Soan papdi; it’s an Indian sweet that I love but it’s quite challenging to make at home.

It’s your last day on earth, where are you and what are you eating?
Back at home in Sri Lanka with my family, eating a nice plate of homemade rice and curry.

What’s the most exotic food you’ve eaten and from where? 
Since of late, I have developed an interest in foraging. This might not be exotic, but I made jam (jelly) and honey out of dandelions that I harvested, and it really was wonderful. Most people consider dandelions to be a weed (and a bit of a nuisance!) 

Your favourite odd food pairing?
Sourdough bread with kithul pani (and a bit of butter!)

Do you ever see yourself opening your own restaurant one day? 
Ah, that’s something I think I will never do. I know I want food to play a bigger role in my life but opening up my own restaurant is not one of my goals.

If you could dis-invent a food, what would it be?
Bagels! I just don’t get them. 

Eat with your eyes or think with your stomach? 
The food photographer in me says eat with your eyes, but at the end of the day taste is the most important element.

A dish you’d love to relive for the first time? 
Panna Cotta. Such a simple dessert but so versatile! I still remember being blown away when I tried out a mango panna cotta for the first time.