01x01 - Colombo

[bunniefuu]

I'm Peter Kuruvita.

For the past 30 years
I've been lucky enough

to have worked in some of
the world's best restaurants.

But my passion for food
began in the country I grew up in.

Ayubowan - welcome to Sri Lanka...

..the magical land of my childhood

and the reason I love to cook.

Let's get cooking.
I've got heaps of food here.

The cardamom through it is perfect.

The flavour and texture sensation

that you're not gonna get
anywhere else.

Over the coming weeks I'm going to
show you this amazing land.

From her pristine beaches...

[LAUGHS]

Go out and catch some fish
and cook it.

What more do you want from life?

..to the stunning hill country...



..and Jaffna in the north.

Loving care, you know,
that's what goes into cooking.

This was my playground
where I used to hang out.

I'll be reliving
childhood memories.

Hello.
From long time.

Long time. I see.

Good to see you.
And you.

As long as you keep thinking about
somebody, they never die.

I'll be meeting
great local characters...

That's a shocker.

Oi. What are you doing to me?

..and all the time I'll be
looking for food inspirations.

Now, this recipe actually
came off a palm leaf.

That's the sound of
Sri Lanka dining at night.

Thank you very much.

Returning to Colombo is,
for me, a time warp.

This is the place of my childhood.

The city has grown,
the buildings have changed,

but, at its heart,
Colombo feels the same.

I played in these streets,
made friends with these families.

This was my home at
the most important time of my life.

In the 1950s,
my dad moved to England,

met my mum, fell in love,
got married and had me.

When I turned four

he decided that Sri Lanka was a
better place to bring up the family.

So he drove us through England,

across Europe,

the Middle East and India,

to the edge of Sri Lanka.

My adventurous dad
loaded our Morris van onto a barge,

and so began a new life in Colombo.

I loved it.

[PIPE PLAYS]

The sound and the colour
and the memories of this place

probably mean more to me
than anything.

This was the big day out
for a Sri Lankan boy.

It was only a short time ago

that this park
was closed to the public

and surrounded by barbed wire.

It was the w*r.

What's incredible is
how quickly Colombo has bounced back.

And right here, Galle Face Green

is almost identical to
the way I remember it as a kid.

Dad threw his weight around here,
literally.

He was one of the local wrestlers,

and to be the son of
the toughest guy on the Green,

well, how proud was I?

He was a champion wrestler
in Sri Lanka,

and the reason he chose it
wasn't for sport

and wasn't for any of those things,

it was because he was really sick.

He had malaria, and his mother
didn't know what to do.

And, so, he met this guy
called Marshall on the beach,

and he said, "Come and wrestle with
us, you'll get fit and strong."

So he started,
and fell in love with it,

was chosen to go to the Olympics.

Since my dad died,
around 15 years ago,

I've come to realise

what an enormous influence
he's had on everything I do.

It's because of him I'm a proud
Australian and a proud Sri Lankan.

And it's because of him
I became a chef.

You see, Dad taught me,
whenever you cook or eat food,

you must always do it with love.

I'm so happy to be back on
my favourite beach.

So I'm cooking grilled banana prawns,

with a black pepper
and curry leaf sauce.

I've got these wonderful little
Bombay onions.

They have to be chopped up
really, really fine.

This is a sauce that
you have to cook down.

It takes time.
It's like lots of food.

Some ginger.

Garlic next.

I'm using long, red chillies because
I don't want it to be too hot.

Again, everything needs to be
really, really fine.

The reason is this sauce is basically
cooking everything down to a paste.

I want to dissolve
all of these aromats

so that it's just a beautiful,
rich, thick, tasty sauce.

Now, what I'm going to do with this
is just fry it in some vegetable oil.

Just a little bit of oil.

When the oil's nice and hot,
I'm going to add some curry leaves.

I'm going to put all of these onions
and garlic

and chilli and ginger into here.

Nothing like
the smell of frying garlic.

You can attract people
from miles away with that smell.

It's just wonderful.

The onions now are going translucent,
so now I add my butter.

And you can see how much butter
I'm putting in.

This is the base of the sauce.

Once this goes in, I turn it down.
I don't want to burn the butter.

I want it to basically
become the gel,

the paste that sort of binds
and brings this whole thing together.

It's melted nicely, and now I'm going
to add all my other ingredients.

Sugar.

And you see why I add sugar, because
I'm also putting some fish sauce,

so we're balancing that sweetness
with the saltiness.

Soy sauce - I'm using a combination
of light and dark soy sauce.

And that will give it
a really rich colour.

Oyster sauce, which will balance it
and add a little bit of sweetness.

Black pepper.

It's black pepper
and curry leaf sauce,

so don't hold back
on the black pepper.

A little bit of salt.

And a stir.

What's happening, this whole sauce
is going to emulsify,

so once all the butter's melted,

I'm going to turn it right down,
put a lid on it.

Now I'm doing the garnish,

using this incredible device,
which I think was invented here.

There's quite a few
coconut scrapers -

stand up, sit down, electric.

This is my favourite.

We've got one at home
that's 40 years old, still going.

So, grate a coconut,

hold it tight
and just spin the dial.

And you end up with beautiful,
fresh and sweet and juicy flesh.

Next is the pomelo.

What I want from this
is not the actual segments,

but the individual little pearls
that are inside.

Separate them all, and they're
going to be sprinkled through.

It's going to add
that little zest into your mouth.

Now...

..the prawns.

So, these banana prawns
just need to be lightly seasoned -

salt and pepper.

You want to make sure that
the oil is hot now.

It's important,
because if it cools down

what you're going to have is
basically prawns boiled in oil.

I want them to be
fighting against the oil

and just crisping up nicely
on the outside

so that they've still got
a nice crunch to them.

So, I'm just intertwining the prawns.
They're hot.

One for me.

Now, my sauce has tons and tons
and tons of butter on top of it.

Which is good. We wanted that.

But I'm just taking some of it out.

Then I'm just going to
spoon it over the top.

So I'm mixing the coconut
and the onion together.

Some chilli for colour and flavour.

This pomelo,
which I'll just sprinkle through.

One of those things when people
put it into their mouth,

think, "I wonder what that is."

There'll be a beautiful acidity
to it, as well.

And then these wonderful
curry leaves,

just sprinkled all over.

Adds colour,
but they're great to eat, as well.

A very simple dish on the beach.

I could handle this right now
with a few beers.

Back in the '60s,
our life in Colombo was pretty basic,

but we had more than most.

In fact, we had nannies and cleaners
who actually lived with us.

I caught a tuktuk
through the back lanes,

and I'm coming to a place to meet
a lady that's very special to me.

She was my nanny when I was a kid.

She cooked for me, she cared for me.

And I haven't seen her
for quite a while

so I'm really looking forward to
giving her a big cuddle.

I'm going to go check her out.

Hello?

Hello, Peter!
[LAUGHS EXCITEDLY]

How are you?
From long time.

Long time. I see. Good to see you.
And you.

Yeah, it's true. Nice to see you.

Are you well?
Yes.

When I was 12,
we left to live in Australia.

That meant my old nanna lost her job.

Dad worried about her,

so he bought her a spice grinder
and set her up in business.

Today she's regarded as one of
the best spice suppliers in Colombo.

So now I have all the spices I need

for the rest of
my culinary adventure,

it's time to shop for
cooking supplies

at Colombo's biggest market, Pettah.

I'm just following her.
I'm not quite sure where we're going.

She knows her way.

Product of Australia.

Comes a long way. Quite funny.

When she was my nanny, Prema
made lots of different curries.

But one in particular
was my favourite.

Vibrant, crazy -
I've decided to cook here.

I've got my nanny,
who's going to help me

and probably tell me what to do.

And we're going to make
breadfruit curry.

Breadfruit is a beautiful fruit.

How big shall I cut it?

Like this? Like this?

And this is such an easy recipe,
as well,

because it's a matter of getting

all of these beautiful
fresh fruit and vegetables,

and throwing them into the pot
and bringing them to boil.

Two or three chillies.
It depends on how hot they are.

Three chillies is enough, otherwise
we're going to k*ll everybody.

Pandan, curry leaves,
three cloves of garlic.

And then I'll put
the second extract of coconut -

enough to cover all the breadfruit -
and then turn it on.

The flavour of curries
is very individual.

Each household kind of has
a slightly different variation.

This is ground-up mustard, isn't it?
Yeah.

White mustard seeds.

Turmeric...

..cumin, roasted,

coriander, salt.

My grandmother and her daughters
used to all cook,

and one daughter would add
just a little bit, like that.

And then someone else would go,
"Not enough. Add a little bit more."

She'd walk away.

My grandmother would come back,
add a little bit more.

I normally throw
the cinnamon sticks in whole,

but Prema's just
pulled it all to pieces.

And that's great. It disperses
the flavour through the dish.

We need to cover it.
Wait until it comes to the boil.

So the next stage is something
that's done a lot in Sri Lankan food.

It's called temporada.

Basically tempering, or adding
crispy, fried spices into a curry

to give it that last boost.

Mustard seeds first.

What we're doing with them is
they're going to start popping.

It's like popcorn. They come up.

So be a bit careful
because you can get burnt.

Here they go. Stand back.

Curry leaves.

Before the curry leaves brown,
quickly put the onions in.

Fry that around.

I think we're pretty much
ready to go now, so...

Basically, that's the dish.
You don't need to boil it anymore.

The oil was hot enough

and it's actually reacted against

all the coconut cream
and everything else.

And you've got a beautiful infusion.

You know when you get tiny little
flecks of oil coming out of a dish -

not too much, just a bit?

They turn yellow with the turmeric.
It's fantastic. It's ready to serve.

I'm gonna get people to try it,
see what they think.

Give it a shot, man.

Ha-ha! Very good. Cool.

My timing is excellent

because it just so happens
that we're filming in Colombo

on a day when people from
all over Sri Lanka

gather here at the Kelaniya Temple
to celebrate the full moon.

And you know it's a special day

by the number of elephants
they've brought in - 40.

That's a big deal.

They're dressing the elephants now,

so the time's getting close to
this great procession -

the Kelaniya Perahera -
once a year on a full moon.

The excitement here is great.

Sri Lankan culture is strong.

Over the centuries it's been
influenced by various invaders,

but at its core
it really doesn't change much.

And it is all about family,
spirituality and, of course, food.

One of my childhood memories
are of this. Kadala, it's called.

Chickpeas cooked with chilli,
coconut, all mixed together

and stuck into a bag.

I love it.

Thanks. See you.

Check this out.
It's great food everywhere here.

It's a tobacco leaf,
coconut, flavouring,

a little bit of lime
they use to whitewash walls.

You stick it all in your mouth.
It's got a bit of sweetness to it.

Then you spit...blood.

Not really, but red colour
comes out of your mouth.

You might notice a lot of
these people have red mouths.

That's the reason.

Can I have one?
Yes.

[CHUCKLES]

It doesn't taste like I remember,
actually. [CHUCKLES]

I'm going to have to spit quite soon,
but the colour got me.

I think it did every time.

Let's go find some more food.

These festivities are
a warm-up to the main event.

Eventually, dance troupes
and elephants in dazzling outfits,

and worshippers in their
hundreds of thousands

will march and dance around
this beautiful temple.

It's Kelaniya's
biggest day of the year.

My Austrian mum was brought up
as a Catholic,

and dad was a Buddhist.

So I'm pretty open-minded.

But I do remember a lot of the stuff
that Dad taught me about the Buddha.

This tree is 2,000 years old.

It was one of 36 seedlings
brought here by Lord Buddha.

The ritual that is carried on here
has been going on forever.

They bring buckets of water,
walk around the tree three times,

and then place the water down a chute

straight in to feed the roots
of this amazing tree.

The feeling here is unexplainable.
The smells are beautiful.

And I feel so privileged to be here.

It's funny how this stays with you,
deep inside.

I came here to film a perahera,
but I got so much more.

Wow, I just thought I was going to
put some water into a tree,

but it had a fairly serious effect
on me.

As I walked around
people were touching the bowl,

wishing good wishes, I guess,

trying to get some of my luck,
or I'm not really sure what,

but that was pretty damn amazing.

And now, a recipe from me
as a tribute to the Kelaniya Temple.

I want to cook a dish that is simple
but very special.

Very special because cashew nuts,
number one,

are a very expensive item here.

But, also, I want to give this
to the priest.

So I'm hoping that an offering
of a beautiful cashew curry

will be just the right thing
to hand over to him.

It's very simple, very easy to do.
Start off with some onions.

Curry leaves.

You hear those curry leaves crackle,
that's the best part of it.

You know the oil's nice and hot
and ready to go.

Give it a little stir.

While that's happening,
chopping up hot green chillies.

Not too fine, but just fine enough

so that you can see them
through the curry

as a flavour and a texture,

but also the heat comes through.

Some pandan - or rampe,
as it's called here -

which gives
a beautiful, aromatic flavour.

So once these onions are frying
and the smell's coming out,

and the curry leaves are crackling
and bubbling away, I add my spices -

roasted cumin seed.

So, cumin seeds
which are then thrown into a pan

and roasted and then ground.

And I put a teaspoon of that in.

Turmeric.

Chilli powder - a lot.

Everyone likes it hot here,
but it's up to you.

You put in as much as you like.

A nice stick of cinnamon.
It adds a beautiful aroma to it.

And that just gets
stirred around nicely.

I'm starting to get that aroma,
as well, now from the pandan.

It's just lovely.

I bought some cashew nuts earlier
and soaked them for an hour.

The reason for that
is so that they soften up,

but it also reduces the cooking time.

And the reason for
reducing the cooking time

is that we're using
a lot of coconut cream.

So, coconut cream,
if boiled too much, will separate.

When the onions are nice and brown
and those flavours come through,

add them into it.

Now, these are the smells
and the flavours

that used to come through
my grandmother's kitchen.

They didn't have to
call me to dinner.

I came. I just followed the smell.

Now, once that's cooked,

and all the curries have sort of
wrapped around the cashew nuts,

I've got a first and a second extract
of coconut milk.

The first extract
is used right at the end.

The second extract
goes in straightaway.

And now what we do is simply boil it.

Boil it and reduce it until you get
some thickness to the sauce,

and then we'll finish it.

When the sauce is reduced,

I'm going to finish it off with
just a little bit of coconut cream.

Now, this is the first extract of
coconut - rich and thick and tasty.

And if you cook it too long

it's going to split
and look terrible.

So it's really important, just put
a little bit in, finish it off.

Give it a nice little stir.

Bring it up to the boil,
and it's ready.

A very good traditional way
of tasting things.

Some people say, "Hmm, not,"
but I love doing it.

Season right at the end
so you've got the great flavour

and you know how much salt
you're putting into it.

To serve it up my way,

I want to just make
a nice little pile in the middle.

And just a really nice traditional
way to serve it to the priest,

and to anyone, really,

but get your hands on
some of these chatties at home.

They just make such a unique way
of serving things,

and the flavour
that comes out of them -

if you cook with an open fire -
is amazing.

Now, the last of the coconut cream
goes on there.

And that's a garnish.
It sits on there.

It's nice and thick, white,
looks really nice.

And then I've got some
roasted curry powder

which my nanna made for me,

and it's a whole lot of spices
roasted.

And that just finishes it off.

It's like a finisher.
A little garnish on top.

You don't stir it through,
you just leave it there.

Cashew curry for the priest.

Can't wait to give it to him.
I'm sure he's going to love it.

Peter Kuruvita.
Very pleased to meet you.

I just wanted to offer this to you

as a thankyou for having us
in the temple.

Thank you.
What a beautiful place.

Thank you very much for this.

An absolute pleasure.

I think it will be very delicious.

[LAUGHS] Thank you. I hope so.

Thank you very much.
Thanks for having us.

So, with the formalities
out of the way,

it's time to start the party.

This is my last night in Colombo.

Tomorrow, I head off
around the country

in search of childhood memories
and cooking inspirations.

It's going to be quite an adventure.

Next time on My Sri Lanka,

I head inland to Sigiriya,
to cook up an ancient recipe...

Now, this recipe
actually came off a palm leaf.

..I meet a family
on the edge of the jungle...

With the virgin jungle behind him,

this man has about seven or eight
vegetables that he grows, and fruits.

..and learn a unique way to fish
and to cook.

Hello, elephant.

No-one with him. Help me!