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It's seven o'clock in the morning and I am in what is sometimes called the teardrop of India.

I'm in the capital of Sri Lanka - Colombo.

Hey Vira.

Hi Alastair.

How are you?

Good morning.

Good to see you.

How are you?

Same here.

So Vira, this is your city?

Yeah, this is my own city.

I was born and brought up in Colombo, so this is my city.

Here we are.

We just arrived the main street of Colombo.

So this, this is the Pettah Bazar area, starting from the main street.

This is the Mosque?

Yeah, This is the Red Mosque, which is very famous.

It's fabulous, Vira.

It looks like a... looks like an enormous cake.

Yeah, it's wonderful.

It's true.

Does it go back a long way?

Is it very big inside?

Yeah, obviously it is... ...they say they can accommodate about 10,000 people. 10,000 people?

Inside the mosque, actually, they have two different sections.

One is dedicated for the ladies and the large area for the gents.

Is it open every day?

Yeah, it is open every day.

Actually, they come inside every day for their regular prayers and special prayers are taking place every Fridays.

In another few hours time, there'll be quite a lot of people packed inside for the prayers.

But it really is quite spectacular.

I love it.

Yeah, that's true.

That is being one of the key attractions in Colombo Pettah area.

Really?

Yeah.

Should we go and explore the area a little bit?

Yeah, sure.

Shall we See the other side of the red mosque from this side?

So this is the, this is the main entrance...not the main entrance.

This is where the worshipers go in.

That's right.

So this is the dedicated entrance for the gents to go inside for the prayers, the regular prayers.

And that door is dedicated for the visitors to go inside for their tourist visits, actually.

And where do the women go?

From the other side where we already visited.

Ah.

Okay.

From the main street entrance.

Oh, that's great.

I like that.

So the women get the main entrance.

That's right.

Men come in the back.

Okay.

Yeah.

I like that.

They have given the priority to the ladies actually.

But it is pretty spectacular.

Yeah.

I'm starving, Vira.

Time for breakfast.

Yeah, obviously.

So shall we try something here?

I dunno.

What should I get?

What should I order?

You know, one of our very famous breakfast food item, which is called string hoppers.

Oh, the string hopper, which is made from rice.

Rice pilaf.

Correct.

We mix it with some curries.

Yeah.

And eat with our fingers.

Okay.

That's one of the nice....coolest thing to do.

I think I want a string hopper.

Yeah.

Okay.

And what am I gonna What am I gonna put in...?

We have noodles here?

And they have quite a lot of, uh, curries here.

Maybe chicken, fish, dark curry, then soya, then... and some meat items here.

Oh, wow.

Look at that.

Yeah, I'm starving.

Let's eat.

Yeah, Sure.

Shall we wash our hands here?

We always use water for purification and washing our hands and stuff before we have our meals.

So, Vira.

Yeah.

This looks amazing.

Um, tell me, what are we gonna eat?

Yeah.

Today we've got, uh, string hoppers.

Then we've got noodles here with then boiled egg.

This is a kind of a traditional, you know, macaroni.

Macaroni.

Okay.

I know that we have different curries over here.

So these are starting with this, this is, dal curry, which is very famous with, Sri Lankans, then chickpeas.

Then, soya meat and then this is kind of a pickle.

Then this is chicken parts.

Okay.

Then, tempered potatoes...which is very famous then, fish and chicken.

Fantastic.

So these Sri Lankans always eat with our fingers.

Okay.

We always use the right hand only.

Use the right hand.

Okay.

We'll stay with the right hand and always, you want you know... you'll use only the tips of the fingers, Just the very ends of the fingers.

Yes, That's right.

You make it sound simple, I'm sure.

Okay.

So will you start and I'll follow you.

This one is super hot.

Yeah, Kind of.

I am making a terrible mess of this.

It's delicious.

Okay, good.

It's pretty hot, but it's delicious.

Wow.

Yeah.

That was a great breakfast.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

So what are we gonna do now?

Okay, now it's getting busy as you see in Pettah market.

So shall we...let's go and explore Pettah.

Where we get lots of interesting stuff.

Okay, let's go.

Yeah, sure.

So these are all lorries.

They carry all the stuff from villages and they distribute from here to the shops in the Pettah area.

These are the carriers they carry from, you know, these lorries can't go inside the streets.

They are jam packed.

So that from the lorries to the places where they sell it really, they'll carry on these, carriers.

They're called nattamis, a kind of laborers.

That's a hard job.

Yes.

Obviously.

Very hard job.

See how he is carrying all - a load of onions.

Oh, that looks really heavy.

Look at this guy.

Three.

This area is for spices.

Yeah.

You can smell strong.

Wow.

Look at the garlic, man.

I love your shop.

I love it.

Wholesale.

Huh?

Wholesale garlic.

Can I take it on the plane?

Look at this.

This is amazing.

I love garlic.

I love chili.

I love everything.

I love your shop.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you.

This is the place where I buy dry fish for my house actually.

You buy your fish here?

Yeah.

It's very, comparatively...it's very cheaper than buying at, you know, home hometown retail shops.

Yeah.

It's like 50% cheaper.

Really?

Yeah.

Okay.

Which is your favorite?

That one?

Yeah.

So what, how would you, how would you cook that?

I mean, you take your own, You put it small places.

Okay.

You know, you take it, you'll cut it in, into a small pieces and then you really clean it and, you know, wash it.

And then you put it in the pan with all the spices and stuff.

Then you can either make it as a curry with coconut milk, or either you can, you know, temper it with oil and eat it.

It is a very nice, you know, delicious dish.

Those are all dry fishes.

Yeah.

These are like, you know...

Little sardines.

Correct.

These are papadam.

You know papadam?

Papadam?

This is Papadam?

When I was a child, we had papadams, but they weren't like this.

They were round.

That's right.

One color, like a bread color.

Yes.

We have that too.

That is traditional a papadam.

Okay.

Actually, these are just to, you know, they, are making this is for fun, more innovative and to attract kids and all that.

And then do you do what I used to do, which is you crush them over the, you crunch them over the curry.

Yes, That's right.

Beautiful.

And these, these are chilies.

Actually, this is very nice.

This is you know, boiled in the milk.

Boiled in milk?

This is not hot like, you know, normal chili.

You... it's, not hot.

No.

That's really nice.

Here we have a fresh vegetable market.

Vegetable, fruit and fruits.

Right.

Look at it.

Wonderful.

If I lived in Colombo, I'd be here every day.

Yeah.

I love it.

So we just covered only a glimpse of Pettah.

It's a massive area where you get different, different things as you saw.

Yeah.

With regards to the vegetables, fruits, you know, dry fish, plastic items.

Uh, right.

Textiles, stationary paints, you name it.

Whatever.

I like that It's a kind of giant supermarket.

Yes.

For wholesale.

Yeah.

What are we actually making?

What is the name of what we are making.

Prawn Curry.

Yeah.

Do you ever use butter in cooking?

Butter.

Butter?

Oh yeah.

Yeah, Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, not a lot.

No, no.

So actually, so that's one big difference.

So traditionally between Indian and Sri Lanka food...

But North Indian.

So North Indian, it's, it's... you have a lot of vegetarian food, but they use a lot of dairy.

Right.

So the ghee, they'll use butter.

They'll have cream, they'll have curd.

Right.

All of which is in covered in the food, in the curries.

Yeah.

We don't do that.

So it's coconut milk.

Right.

So, this is mostly vegan.

Because I think a lot of people and and I include myself, make the mistake of thinking that Sri Lankan food is, is kind of like Indian food, but just a little bit different.

But actually, it's a whole different thing.

It is.

And I'm glad that the word's finally getting out.

I think people are starting to realize that.

Yeah.

I think we have to treat Sri Lankan food with maybe more respect.

Not, not just sort of an offshoot of India More salt?

It's good.

Okay.

And something you probably realize when you taste it, you can't pick up any distinct spice.

No, you're right.

I can't.

Not individually, no.

That's true of most Sri Lankan dishes.

It's all about just balance.

And no one spice would shine through.

My God.

That's good.

That's done.

So, and it's hot, but it's not too hot.

Right.

It's not crazy hot.

No.

Okay.

What are we gonna make now?

So we are gonna make dhal curry.

Always pink onions?

Well, that's what we get here most of the time.

Yeah, exactly.

And also another thing with Sri Lankan cuisine, like we are not very pedantic about types of vegetables.

Like, for example, like what the potatoes are ....Ah.

Right.

We don't even know.

A potato....throw in the potato.

Yeah.

It's literally...

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

I would say 60% flavor of the dhal, right there.

Really?

Yeah.

It's all in the sizzle.

And that's it.

And we let it sit and kind of do its thing.

And we are gonna get onto the rice and then we are almost ready to eat.

Okay.

Okay.

Pop it in time.

Pop Time.

Yeah.

Let's pop on the papadums.

So I'm gonna show you a little trick to know if your oil is ready for deep frying.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

So you take the back of your wooden spoon if you have one.

Mm-hmm.

And then can you see bubble start to form off it?

So that means it's done.

Gosh.

Right.

So whatever residual hydration's in it....

Yeah.

The, the water's evaporated.

And that means that you, the oil is now hot enough for frying.

Exactly.

You see, I never knew that.

That's a trick I never knew and I got a steal that trick.

Great.

So can I do this?

Yeah, go ahead.

Alright.

Lunch is ready.

Bon appetit.

Yeah, Bon appetit.

So we just mix it all up.

Hmm.

Wow.

It's delicious.

It's really good.

Hmm.

Right.

Dessert.

What are we gonna have?

So we are gonna have a very traditional buffalo milk curd.

Buffalo milk curd.

Yeah.

Okay.

So to give you an idea, I think a lot of people say it's a lot like Greek yogurt, but it's not exactly.

Mm-hmm.

That.

Okay.

And then of course we sweeten it with one of two types of trickles.

Right.

So this is either coconut trickle or fishtail palm.

Yeah.

So this is fishtail palm.

It's very different to yogurt, right?

Like, I dunno how to explain it.

No.

What's great is that, it's a little, it's not bitter, but it's not sweet.

And this is sweet.

And the mix,... the back to the...it's almost like a funkiness, no?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, it's really good.

I love it.

Really good.

And yes, it really was good, which kind of sums up my time in Colombo.

When I flew into Sri Lanka, I had very little idea of what to expect, but it didn't take long for the charm of its people, the deliciousness of its food and the melting pot of races, religions and cultures to cast their spell over me.

And I made myself a promise that one day I would return.

Well, Vira, our day is almost over.

The sun is setting.

But what a day.

Colombo's been amazing.

It's been hectic.

We've been really busy.

It's been hot, but I've had a great day and it's sort of frustrating because tomorrow we have to leave and go to the tea estates, which I'm really looking forward to, but this city deserves more time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But still, I hope you got a little bit of Colombo and a good time here, though it was so limited.

Even I feel so sorry that you have not enough time to spend and explore Colombo, but I'm glad that at least you got that time to spend with us and explore Colombo.

But we did a lot today, you know?

Yeah.

It's been a good day.

Yeah.

It's been a pleasure of working, talking, walking with you.

Same here.

I hope I'll see you again.

Yeah.

Good luck.

Take care.

Good luck.

Thank.