Festive Sweets

A mix of Sri Lankan Eid and Avurudhu celebratory sweets. Clockwise from bottom left: boondi, dodol, mung kawum, murukku, and date bars. Poruthota, Negombo, April 2024.

_{• 70mm • f/2.8 • 1/40 • ISO640 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Just Prep It

Prepping the kottu for dinner service. Oddamavadi, Sri Lanka. February 2024.

^{• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO100 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

The Samosa Man

Maligawatta, Colombo. December 2023.

^{• 48mm • f/4 • 1/500 • ISO500 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Chirga in da Hood

Whichever coast you’re from, the best grilled chicken in the country. Slow-cooked tandoori chirga gets the finishing touches on Abdul Hameed Street, Aluthkade. August 2023.

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/100 • ISO1250 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Hot Hot Hoppers for Dinner

Meeraniya St, Aluthkade. July 2023.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/160 • ISO1600 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Aluth Vadé

Abdul Hameed St, Aluthkade, Colombo. July 2023.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/160 • ISO400 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Masala vadé.

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO400 •}

Colombo’s famous isso vadé.

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/160 • ISO400 •}

Abundance

Sri Lankan rice and curry of (clockwise from bottom left) gotukola mallum (shredded Indian pennywort), curried pumpkin in coconut milk, fried leeks, jackfruit seeds with cabbage, stir-fried carrot, deep fried bitter gourd, date and lime jam, and (in the centre) kaluheeneti rice and chicken curry.

Breakfast in Pettah #7

Egg rottis are oiled, stretched, folded, and readied for the hot skillet. Wolfendhal Street, Kotahena. October 2022.

^{• 35mm • f/2.8 • 1/1000 • ISO400 • R6 & RF35/1.8 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan}

Sustaining the Revolution

A street food vendor sells fresh rotti and vadai at Gotagogama, the ad hoc village of tents, shacks, and portable toilets that have sprung up on Galle Face Green, in downtown Colombo. Set up almost a month ago, the village is home to a core of protestors calling for the resignation of Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapakse and his government, who’s corruption and ineptitude have been blamed for creating the worst economic crisis in the country’s modern history. In addition to the resident dissidents, Gotagogama sees a constant ebb and flow of protestors from all over the city and its suburbs, driven by widespread shortages of electricity, fuel, cooking gas, and medicine, to join in the strident call for the government to step down. Sri Lanka, May 2022.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/100 • ISO3200 •}

Village Fare

A simple vegetarian Sri Lankan lunch of white suwandel rice and (clockwise from top) a mallung of manioc leaves and wild eggplant, pappadam, curried lady’s fingers, banana blossom (the highlight of the meal, in my opinion), and beans. Good enough that I had seconds, in spite of being a devoted meat eater. Thambiliwatte Farm, close to Maho. February 2022.