Lamprais ( en, Lumprice, pron), commonly incorrectly written as “Lumprice”, “Lampraise” or “Lumprais” is a Sri Lankan dish that was introduced by the country's Dutch Burgher population. Lamprais is an Anglicised derivative of the Dutch word ''lomprijst'', which loosely translated means a packet or lump of rice, and it is also believed the dish has roots in the Indonesia dish

Lemper ''Lemper'' is an Indonesian savoury snack made of glutinous rice filled with seasoned shredded chicken, fish ''abon'' (meat floss) or serundeng. The specific ''lemper'' filled with seasoned shredded chicken is called ''lemper ayam'' (lit: chic ...

History

From 1658 until 1796, the coast of Sri Lanka was under

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

rule. The

Dutch Burghers The Dutch Burghers are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of mixed Dutch, Portuguese Burghers and Sri Lankan descent. However, they are a different community when compared with Portuguese Burghers. Originally an entirely Protestant community, many Burg ...

(an ethnic group of mixed Dutch, Portuguese Burghers and Sri Lankan descent) came up with this delicacy. The dish itself is not a native dish to the Netherlands but is based on the Javanese meal,

. Lemper is a snack consisting of shredded seasoned meat, glutinous rice wrapped in a banana leaf. The Dutch in Dutch Ceylon are likely to have adapted this dish from the Dutch East Indies in the early 16th Century. One of the first literary mentions of Lamprais was in Hilda Deutrom's ''Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book'', published in 1929.

Composition

It consists of two special

curries A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradi ...

(a three meat curry, often including beef, pork and chicken - and ash

plantain Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

with

aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...

), seeni sambol,

belacan Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp or krill mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks. They are eith ...

frikadeller A frikadelle (plural frikadellen) is a rounded, flat-bottomed, pan-fried meatball of minced meat, often likened to the German version of meatballs. The origin of the dish is unknown. The term is German but the dish is associated with German, ...

meatballs and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

boiled in stock, all of which is wrapped in

banana leaves The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrappin ...

and baked in an oven. The rice is made by frying raw short grain rice with onions and spices in butter or ghee and then cooking it in a meat stock. A hard boiled egg which has been deep-fried is also a common, but non-traditional, addition. The traditional recipe always contains three meat items however modern versions can include just a single meat, such as fish or chicken or as a vegetarian version.

References

Rice dishes Sri Lankan rice dishes Dutch Ceylon Sri Lankan lamb dishes Sri Lankan egg dishes {{SriLanka-cuisine-stub

History

Composition

See also

References