Lamprais in Toronto: What It Is, and What to Order at Blessed Kitchen Instead

A plain guide to lamprais, why it is rare in Toronto, and the closest thing on our Scarborough menu: ghee rice with many curries, biryani and devils.

Let us be straight with you up front: Blessed Kitchen does not make lamprais. We get asked for it a lot, so we wrote this page to explain what lamprais is, why it is so hard to find in Toronto, and what to order from our kitchen if you are craving that same rice-and-many-curries feeling.

What is lamprais?

Lamprais (lump rice) is a Dutch Burgher dish from Sri Lanka. It is a whole meal wrapped in a banana leaf and baked, so the rice and curries steam together inside the parcel. A traditional parcel has:

• Rice cooked in meat stock instead of water
• A mixed meat curry, often with several meats slow-cooked together
• Frikkadels (Dutch-style meatballs) or a fish cutlet
• Seeni sambol, a sweet caramelised onion relish
• Blachan, a salty prawn paste
• Ash plantain or eggplant curry and a boiled egg

The banana leaf is not just for looks. Baking the parcel in the leaf gives it a soft, smoky, green smell you cannot get any other way.

Why lamprais is hard to find in Toronto

Every parcel has five or six separate components, each cooked on its own, then assembled and wrapped by hand. It is a full day of work for one plate. Most Sri Lankan kitchens in the GTA only make it for special orders, if at all, and many traditional versions include pork, so halal lamprais is rarer still.

The closest thing on our menu: ghee rice combos

If what you love about lamprais is getting fragrant rice with lots of different curries, sambols and a sweet finish on one plate, our ghee rice combos are the nearest thing we make. They are catering spreads quotes each event based on menu and headcount for 20 or more people:

• Ghee Rice Combo 3, roughly $20 to $30 per person (quoted on menu and headcount): ghee rice, hot masala chicken curry, Bengal masala T-bone steak, beans curry, eggplant moju, capsicum, acharu, maasi sambal and kithul watalappan. Ten dishes.
• Ghee Rice Combo 1, roughly $20 to $30 per person (quoted on menu and headcount): ghee rice, mutton kuruma, fried chicken, eggplant moju, pineapple curry, maasi sambal, potato milk curry, acharu and watalappan.
• Saffron Ghee Rice Combo, roughly $20 to $30 per person (quoted on menu and headcount): saffron ghee rice, boneless mutton devil, fried whole chicken, mango curry, eggplant moju, dhal, maasi sambal, acharu and watalappan.

Ordering for just yourself or a few people?

For a smaller order, build your own rice plate from our regular menu:

• Biriyani ($12), Northern Sri Lankan style, chicken, beef, mutton or vegetable
• Chicken Devil or Beef Devil ($12.99)
• Boneless Mutton Devil ($14.99)
• Paalandi Half Chicken ($40) for the table
• Vattalappam ($15) to finish, just like a lamprais meal would

All halal, all from scratch

Everything we cook is HMA-certified halal and made in our own kitchen in Scarborough. If you came here looking for lamprais, give our ghee rice or biryani a try instead.

How to order

For ghee rice combos, call or text to book your date. For biryani and devils, order direct.

• Order direct from our kitchen for pickup or delivery. Ordering direct means no app markup on the menu.
• Call or text (647) 449-2924 to set up pickup or ask what is cooking this weekend.
• Feeding 20 or more? Get a quote for halal catering in Scarborough.

We are at 328 Passmore Avenue, Unit 59, Scarborough. Everything we cook is HMA-certified halal.