Lamprais: the Dutch Burgher Sunday parcel worth hunting down

Rice boiled in stock, mixed-meat curry, blachan and frikkadels, baked in a banana leaf. A colonial-era dish still made the slow way. Lamprais, from the Dutch lomprijst, is a legacy of Sri Lanka's Burgher community: short-grain rice cooked in stock, a rich three-meat curry, shrimp blachan, ash plantain and a frikkadel meatball, all wrapped in banana leaf and.

travelguides.lk · updated 10 Mar 2026 Sourced editorial

On the plate

Lamprais, from the Dutch lomprijst, is a legacy of Sri Lanka's Burgher community: short-grain rice cooked in stock, a rich three-meat curry, shrimp blachan, ash plantain and a frikkadel meatball, all wrapped in banana leaf and gently baked so the flavours marry.

Proper lamprais is a weekend production, often sold by pre-order from Burgher family kitchens and a handful of famous Colombo establishments. Finding one is a delicious piece of culinary archaeology.