By Panchali Illankoon 

How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, Shehana – the founder of Curry O’ Clock, bringing Sri Lankan flavours to the Netherlands, takes our Q&A!

What’s the food memory that started it all for you? 
It all began with my Amma (stepmom) and her killer chicken curry. She came into my life when I was 10, bringing Southern Sri Lankan flavours and proper comfort food. From cakes to spaghetti to spicy sambols, I was hooked. Then, I moved to the Netherlands and had to cook for myself. It was either sink or swim.

How did Curry O’Clock come about? You started in 2020, was it a pandemic baby? 
Big yes! I lost my marketing job in 2020 and received rejection after rejection, despite holding a Dutch degree and being fluent in the language. I thought, sod it, I'll do something I love. A friend asked me to host a birthday cooking workshop, so I posted it online, and suddenly, people wanted in. So, I created spice boxes, shipped them out, and hosted online workshops, sometimes for 25 people, including folks from New York. It took off from there, and I just ran with it!

What is fun or frustrating about cooking Sri Lankan food in the Netherlands? 
Spices! Dutch supermarket spices are sad. Old, bland, and never from Sri Lanka. Fresh curry leaves? Frozen. Jackfruit? Forget it. I now travel home more often and bring my spices back with me. I even started selling them here so people can finally get the proper stuff. It's still not as good as plucking jackfruit straight from a tree, though.

Since you’ve started just 5 years ago, you’ve already launched your own recipe books in Dutch & English – what inspired them?
Dutchies need exact measurements. None of this "bit of this, splash of that" stuff we grew up with. If you say "lentils," they might grab a tin. So, I had to get specific, dried red lentils, not the canned mush! The books are my way of ensuring that people experience Sri Lankan food the way it's meant to be enjoyed. It started in English and was then translated into Dutch to reach even more people.

Tell us about your spice brand.
Well, it's not fancy yet, but I've created my own curry powder mixes using spices I bring back from Sri Lanka. I work with a supplier in Matale who gets it just right. Though I dream of getting Jaffna blends one day, they have very different flavour profiles. My goal is simple: get real Sri Lankan spices into Dutch kitchens. At a Sri Lankan Embassy event, I saw most Dutch folks still get their spices from Vietnam or China. We need to change that narrative.

Your latest venture is bringing Sri Lankan products to the Dutch market – what is it all about? 
It's all about conscious living. Sri Lanka has amazing gluten-free flours and low-GI natural sweeteners that many people here have never heard of. People are gluten-sensitive or cutting sugar, but end up with boring substitutes. Sri Lanka has the goods; we're just not on the radar. Yes, it's expensive and difficult to import, and the EU loves its bureaucracy. But I'm stubborn, and I believe Sri Lanka deserves the spotlight.

When you are back in Sri Lanka, you travel a lot for food. What was the most unique or rare experience so far?
Cooking in a mud hut in Kilinochi, up north in Jaffna. I was with Palmyra Project, a charity that empowers women financially. I was surrounded by strong, beautiful women who had been through war, loss, and trauma, yet were smiling, cooking, and teaching me proper Jaffna recipes. This was pure magic.

Another one? Delft Island. Making Odiyal Kool (Jaffna fish soup) with local fishermen, cutting fresh fish under coconut trees, Tamil tunes blasting. I took my white Dutch husband along; he's probably one of the only white Dutchies who's seen Sri Lanka like that. Proud moment.

Your favourite childhood meal? 
Oof, tough one. I'd say Dambala Baduma (fried winged beans); my aunt made the best one. Also, my grandma's Kangkung soup was inspired by her time in Hong Kong. I haven't made that in ages. I don't even have the recipe, but my dad should know this.

A fool-proof recipe you would recommend to someone new to your page? 
Sri Lankan dal curry! Simple, soulful, and delicious. Also, a Gotukola sambol or a grated carrot salad. Easy peasy and still packed with flavour. Baby steps into spice heaven.

Ever mixed Sri Lankan flavours with Dutch flavours?
Oh yeah. Dutch hutspot (mashed veg) gets a glow-up with pumpkin and Sri Lankan spice. And don't get me started on jackfruit bitterballen (like gooey cutlets). Dutch snacks, Lankan style. Perfection.
 
Your favourite recipe on your page right now, that’s a Shey-special? 
My fried aubergine curry (kaliya). Pair that with my yellow rice, and you'll weep. It's that good.

A recipe that has been passed down to you from family that you make?
Amma's chicken curry is my holy grail. Dada has rice with Maldive fish, shallots, and fenugreek, which I haven't even shared yet, but it's divine. He also makes a barbecue sauce that would win awards. Everything I make has Amma or Dada fingerprints all over it.

When you are not cooking, we can find you ___?
In the forest, walking and munching on something. Or on my rooftop garden pretending I'm chill. Or at a nice restaurant, feet up, eating a borrelplank (snacks platter) with a cold beer. Bliss.

Most frustrating food to learn – one you nearly gave up on?
Lasagne! Sounds easy until you try to get the crunch, the melt, and the saucy goodness just right. Also, biryani, don't even try unless you've got your spice mix and rice timing down. Oh, and Wattalappan, one wrong move, and it's scrambled eggs. I've wrestled with all three, but we're now on better terms.

What’s the first thing you want to eat when you come back to Sri Lanka?
Amma's rice and curry. No question. And Ranbath Organics in Colombo and Club Ceylon.