Farm-to-table vegetarian culinary experience in a rural village

Meet Shehan

A true foodie, Shehan is a young and fun Sri Lankan, passionate about organic food and sustainability. Shehan worked in the organic food industry for many years, hosting popups and helping organic food producers at the Good Market, Colombo’s prominent organic market. Shehan and his friend started a travel company to empower locals by giving them a platform to showcase their skills. He loves hosting farm experiences because they help showcase local and regional produce that may not be found in restaurant menus and revive recipes passed down through generations in Sri Lankan families.

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

In-home meal (2 - 12 guests) Meet Shehan in Hokandara, a 40-min drive from Colombo and together visit your host, a humble farmer and his family at their rustic farmhouse to enjoy an authentic, homemade, vegetarian Sri Lankan meal. An outdoor table will be set up outside the farmer’s modest home where you will be joined by the family for your meal. Your meal may include dishes such as rice, coconut sambol, brinjal curry, okra curry or other seasonal vegetables and lentils. The meal will conclude with a fresh pressed fruit juice or tea.

Cooking experience (2 - 12 guests) With fresh, organic produce in your hand, walk over to the farmer’s outdoor kitchen. Sip on a refreshing seasonal drink like a king coconut or a fresh pressed tangerine juice before you start your vegetarian farm cooking experience. Learn to cook a seasonal and traditional Sri Lankan meal from family recipes handed down through generations. Your vegetarian hands-on cooking class with the farmer’s wife, an expert village cook, will last about an hour and a half. You will learn to cook 3-4 traditional dishes from scratch. Enjoy learning how to grind a coconut sambol (the national condiment), a mallung (fresh salad from a vegetable you may not have seen before) and a few seasonal vegetables picked from the farm, before you sit down at a farmer’s table to share the meal you helped prepare with Shehan and the expert village cook.

Market visit (2 - 12 guests) Please note there is no market visit but a small farm visit.
Meet your host Shehan at an easy to find meeting location in Hokandara, a village with the closest organic farm to Colombo, before you embark on your farm-to-table culinary experience. Hop into Shehan’s car and drive about 15 minutes to a local farm. An acre of agricultural land farmed by an elderly couple from the village is the setting for this local experience. Here, at the farm, Shehan will introduce you to the farmer and his family and will give you an understanding of what they grow, how it grows and how you know when it is ready to eat. Learn about native vegetables, fruits as well as those introduced to Sri Lanka from the colonials. You will even get to pick seasonal vegetables like french beans, winged beans, eggplant and okra from the farm that you will later cook up for your meal. The tour of this small, organic village farm will last for about 30 minutes.