Mad Curry Skills by Chari is run by Charindi Meegasthanna, who is a foodie and she has always been inquisitive to try out new recipes and dishes. Working a nine to five job as a designer, she has been feeling drained and uninspired, so she has tried a few paths to see what sparks her interest. Being the daughter of an established chef, playing with flavours comes in her genes, which she brought to life with her new recipes done for Life Online.

During this, the fact that an authentic lamprais couldn’t be found in Colombo has hit her hard, so she brought forth “Mad Curry Skills by Chari” to give a lamprais that is extremely close to the authentic version with her own spin to it. 

She now makes lamprais for many a hungry tummy on weekends with her family members who are her happy helpers, whilst maintaining the day job as well. This is the ideal spot to get your ideal fix of lamprais for the weekend. 

Currently Mad Curry Skills by Chari offers lamprais and nasi lemak. 

Food – 5/5

Lamprais

Two types of Lamprais are served by her, which are vegetarian (Rs. 480) and chicken (Rs. 500). We opted for the chicken lamprais and it comes with rice cooked in chicken stock, seeni sambol, brinjal pahi, prawn balachang, ash plantain curry, chicken frikkadel and twice cooked egg. Lamprais is a dish that originates from Malaysia which was brought to Sri Lanka during the reign of the Dutch. Throughout its journey from Malaysia to here, it has changed in many ways coming to the version of it which we love and adore. But many places do not serve it the correct way, and this was by far the most perfect rendition of it we came across.

The seeni sambol in the original recipe is a bit different than what we are used to, so Charindhi makes her mother’s recipe, exactly the way we love it! The chicken curry was perfect with every ounce of it bursting with flavour and it wasn’t too spicy as to throw you off. The chicken was cut into pieces which has allowed it to absorb a lot more flavour than a full piece would. What caught our eyes was the chicken frikkadel, which is basically meat in a cutlet. The meat is compressed and fried like a patty and served. It was hers that brought it to our attention, a typical cutlet doesn’t come in a lamprais but a frikkadel. All in all, this dish was amazing and absolutely should be tried out by everyone. 

Nasi Lemak

The Nasi Lemak comes in the types of chicken (Rs. 500), prawn (Rs. 600) and vegetarian (Rs. 450). We were served the chicken nasi lemak and it was nothing short of amazing. Nasi lemak is the national dish of Malaysia and has found its way to our hearts in the recent times.

This comes with rendang chicken, sambal with sprats, roasted peanuts, deep fried sprats, cucumber slices and one boiled egg. Once again, we have never come across an authentic version of it like this in Sri Lanka. It is also not that spicy but packed with flavour. It’s the sambal with sprats, which is essentially chillie and sprats that is packed with spice; a little too much of it can blow your tongue. No complaints here though. Everything was fresh and well prepared so that we can’t stop ourselves but go back for more!

What we recommend: You should try both!

Service: She is extremely friendly, and very helpful!

Parking facilities: 5/5

Would we go again? Yes! We can’t wait to see what she will cook up next!

Tips by author – This is strictly pick up or delivery only and this is done exclusively in the weekends. It would be much easier for her if you can put the order one week in advance, so she can arrange everything for the coming weekend. 

Photographer: Kushan Pathiraja