While I can't speak to whether these dishes are authentic they feel as if they really are and that the author tried to really celebrate and honor the food she learned to cook in Sri Lanka. I love this book for cooking enthusiasts with a global palette. definitely will highlight this during cultural library events!

While many of us don’t even know where Sri Lanka is located in the world (south of India in the Indian Ocean), even more of us don’t know what they eat there. That’s why Weligama: Recipes from Sri Lanka is a timely cookbook that will help those of us who are tired of mundane food to branch out and cook something delicious and exotic. Chef Emily Dobbs has done an amazing job with this, her first cookbook, and not only are there mouthwatering recipes, but also facts, history, and beautiful photographs of the country. Dobbs has managed to capture the culture and make it exciting.

There are dozens of very unique dishes included in this beautiful cookbook. The recipes are easy-to-understand, and easy to follow. Because some of the ingredients aren’t found at regular grocery stores, Dobbs has included a chapter on spices and other essential ingredients and where to find them. I didn’t have much trouble finding the ingredients I needed, but the author includes suggestions for substitutions in case you live in an area without ethnic grocery stores.

I was especially impressed with the exceptional curry variations in the cookbook. I expected my curry to taste like Indian Curry, but I was wrong. Sri Lankan curry is different, and also very delicious. One of the first dishes I made from this book was Roast Spiced Chicken with Brown Sugar, Limes and Coconut Milk. It turned out picture perfect and was excellent. Although there were a few extra steps to making this dish, it was well-worth it. Presently, I’m working on perfecting hoppers, a popular Sri Lankan breakfast and street food.

All told, this is a fun cookbook with exotic food that isn’t difficult to make. Cookbook collectors will welcome this into their collection, and it has enough good recipes and fascinating information to make it worthwhile.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

The author has family connections (and boy, don't we get told this frequently. She has run a pop-up stall selling hoppers - a sort of Sri Lankan pancake, and now a restaurant in Soho by that name. It is meant to be 'modern' Sri Lanka cookery but tends more towards fusion cookery - coconut pesto, kaffir lime & lemongrass marmalade, coconut oil & lime mayonnaise (never again!) , a banana tarte tatin that has more of the Caribbean than Sri Lanka in its DNA.

I don't really know why so many cookery books put forth breakfast recipes that even hardened cooks are unlikely to cook, at least at breakfast time. The idea of the coconut & macadamia granola with chilli & a Sri Lankan 'treacle' for breakfast just turns my stomach. Nor am I going to make hoppers for breakfast, the chilli eggs, the egg curry or any of the other items in the breakfast chapter - some might get a look-in at lunch. There wasn't much in the short eats that appealed although you do find there a version of Sri Lankan staple, mutton rolls. I was rather surprised at how little vegetarian food there was - there are a few veg curries of which the roast cauliflower was the most interesting. The watermelon gazpacho is a nice idea - I will try that when I can lay my hands on a watermelon, and the coconut, lemongrass & lime leaf soup is nice served ice cold.

The trouble for me was the paucity of recipes that appealed to me enough to cook them or want to cook them. There is an awful lot of padding - photographs that have more place in a travel book than a cook book but that seems to be the modern trend. . I received this as a NetGalley digital edition but I won't be going out to buy the book - I already have better Sri Lankan cookbooks.

This book not only has well written and easy recipes, but the photography makes you want to try them all.
The recipes are very well laid out with a full page spread for the recipe and one for the photo, which really makes it so very easy to use, no going back and forward or trying to visualise what it should look like; and the presentation isn't glitzy, just ordinary Sri Lanka food as present in any home. I really like this book, well explained, easy to use and with the knowledge of authentic cuisine

Weligama - Recipes from Sri Lanka by Emily Dobbs is a Beautiful colourful Book Just like the country Sri-Lanka. I got married out there many years ago and this book is just perfect in many ways. This book has Sri Lankan-inspired recipes for every meal and season. It includes chapters on breakfast crispy egg hopper 'pancakes' lovely and easy to make. This is also a large selection of meat, fish, fruit and vegetable curries and their accompaniments. Which I found easy to follow and the smells of the spices took me back to this wonderful country. This is a Must buy if your love your spices and flavours. cooking these with fresh fish, fruit, vegetables, coconuts etc your food will never be boring.
Big fat 5* for this amazing book.

This review is on Goodreads and Amazon UKX

I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting cookery books and it’s not often you come across one for Sri Lankan food, so I was really enthusiastic about reviewing Weligama. I lived in India between 1995 and 1998 and toured Sri Lanka extensively and remember being surprised at how different it was to India both geographically and from the cuisine perspective. The island has an abundance of fresh fish, fruit, vegetables, coconuts and healing spices so the food is never dull. I remember thinking that it would be difficult to go hungry there, unlike India.

Referred to by some as Little India, Sri Lanka captures a wonderfully diverse physical and cultural landscape in a relatively small island from the palm-fringed, sandy beaches, ascending to the rolling tea plantations in the Central Highlands, the wildlife-rich rainforests, rice paddy fields and not least the sites of ancient cities and religio-cultural centres. I still recall the lovely dishes we enjoyed when we toured this fascinating country, historically and aptly named ‘Serendip’ meaning happy coincidence.

Emily Dobbs has had longstanding ties with the country whose food she knows and loves, but she has researched further into the dishes which inspired her to develop and adapt her style of cooking. In her quest she has experimented and added her own creative flair to champion Sri Lankan cuisine. Her recipes demonstrate that Lankan meals consist of every taste, colour and texture sensation.

So many mouthwatering dishes beckon, but I am tempted to start with ‘Brown Shrimp Vadai with Cashew Nut Dipping Sauce’, (a healthy baked version rather than deep-fried); the Curry Buns (a type of cult breakfast bun filled with any type of curry, but juicy black pork curry is a real winner, says Emily); her light and fresh curries; Acharu salad (a spicy, sweet fruit salad with mango, papaya, pineapple, cucumber and pomegranate seeds; Crab salad curry and her wonderful selection of sambals, pickles, chutneys, dressings and sauces, which can often form the favourite part of a meal, adding variety and a taste explosion. Cinnamon meringue, roast bananas and saffron cream is one of the mouthwatering sweet dishes which appeals and I am inspired to try her delicious homemade juices.

I look forward to trying out many of these ‘serendipitous’ dishes from Weligama and would recommend this cookbook to discerning cooks and adventurous food lovers, who like to experiment with new recipes and source authentic ingredients.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Orion Publishing Group and Emily Dobbs for the opportunity to read the advance copy in return for an honest review.

This is an absolutely gorgeous cook book with recipes and photographs from Sri Lanka (Ceylon). I have long thought that Sri Lanka must be one of the most beautiful and romantic places in the world, despite its political turmoil. Here, I had a chance to experience the country through its cuisine, which looks as delicious and evocative as I would have expected. Dobbs has made me want to pack my bags and take the next flight out, but, I’ll settle for trying some of her scrumptious recipes.

I loved the presentation of this book. It is clearly written with love. The photography is magnificent and has me thirsting for more. However, for me it has far too many recipes that can't be made with ingredients readily available in my larder. I understand the need for authenticity and for the right cook who delights in having these ingredients readily available it is a worthwhile book that deserves to be well used.