# Lamprais

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{{Short description|Sri Lankan rice dish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox food
|name=Lamprais
|image=Lamprais (2).jpg
|caption = A serving of lamprais
|country=[Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka)
|course=Main meal
|type=Main meal
|main_ingredient=mixed meat curry, ghee rice, ash plantain, frikkadeller meatballs, belacan, seeni sambol, eggplant pahi
}}
'''Lamprais''', ([Sinhala](/source/Sinhala_language) ලම්ප්‍රයිස් ; [Tamil](/source/Tamil_language) லம்ப்ரைஸ்), also transliterated in English as "lumprice", "lampraise" or "lumprais", is a [Sri Lankan](/source/Cuisine_of_Sri_Lanka) dish that was introduced by the country's [Dutch Burgher](/source/Dutch_Burghers) population.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Burghers|first=J. B.|last=Müller|publisher=Wimal Enterprises|date=2006|page=275|isbn=9789551535001}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Being a Christian in Sri Lanka: Historical, Political, Social, and Religious Considerations|last=Pinto|first=Leonard|publisher=Balboa Press|date=2015|page=57|isbn=9781452528625}}</ref> Lamprais is an Anglicised derivative of the Dutch word {{Lang|nl|lomprijst}},<ref>{{cite book|title=Sri Lanka|author1=Gottberg, John|author2=Anthonis, Ravindralal|author3=Keuneman, Herbert|author4=Hoefer, Hans|publisher=Apa Productions|date=1983|page=300|isbn=9789971925222}}</ref> which loosely translated means a packet or lump of rice, and it is also believed the dish has roots in the Indonesia dish [lemper](/source/lemper).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://serendib.btoptions.lk/article.php?id=1838|title=Lamprais: A Curious Culinary Creation|publisher=[SriLankan Airlines](/source/SriLankan_Airlines)|work=Serendib|author=Boyle, Richard|date=July 2016|access-date=19 April 2021|archive-date=29 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129072939/http://serendib.btoptions.lk/article.php?id=1838|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
From 1658 until 1796, the coast of Sri Lanka was under [Dutch](/source/Dutch_people) rule. The [Dutch Burghers](/source/Dutch_Burghers) (an ethnic group of mixed Dutch, [Portuguese Burghers](/source/Portuguese_Burghers) and Sri Lankan descent) came up with the dish. The dish itself is not a native dish to the Netherlands but is based on the [Javanese meal](/source/Indonesian_cuisine) ''[lemper](/source/lemper)''. Lemper is a snack consisting of shredded seasoned meat and [glutinous rice](/source/glutinous_rice) wrapped in a banana leaf. The Dutch in [Dutch Ceylon](/source/Dutch_Ceylon) are likely to have adapted this dish from the [Dutch East Indies](/source/Dutch_East_Indies) in the early 16th century.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives1.sundayobserver.lk/2018/01/07/artistry/lamprais-legacy|title=The Lamprais Legacy|newspaper=[Sunday Observer](/source/Sunday_Observer_(Sri_Lanka))|date=7 January 2018|access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref>

One of the first literary mentions of lamprais was in Hilda Deutrom's ''Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book'', published in 1929.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/160619/plus/cooking-up-a-nation-197623.html|title=Cooking up a Nation|newspaper=[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times_(Sri_Lanka))|date=19 June 2016|first=Deborah|last=Philip|access-date=20 February 2025}}</ref>

==Composition==
thumb|alt=Lamprais|Lamprais, comprising chicken, egg, cutlet, fried eggplant and ash plantain
It consists of two special [curries](/source/curries) (a three-meat curry, often including beef, pork and chicken, and ash [plantain](/source/Cooking_banana) with [aubergine](/source/aubergine)), [seeni sambol](/source/Sambal), [belacan](/source/shrimp_paste), [frikadeller](/source/frikadeller) meatballs and [rice](/source/rice) boiled in stock, all of which is wrapped in [banana leaves](/source/Banana_leaf) and baked in an oven.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/090913/Plus/plus_22.html|title=That Burgher delicacy wrapped up in banana leaf|first=Megara|last=Tegal|newspaper=[Sunday Times](/source/Sunday_Times_(Sri_Lanka))|date=13 September 2009|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://explorepartsunknown.com/sri-lanka/history-baked-in-a-banana-leaf/|title=History baked in a banana leaf|website=Explore Parts Unknown|first=Vidya|last=Balachander|date=25 October 2017|access-date=20 February 2025}}</ref>

The traditional recipe always contains three meat items; however, modern versions can include just a single meat, such as fish or chicken, or may be vegetarian.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/010408/plus5.html|title=Getting 'veggie' friendly|first=Laila|last=Nasry|newspaper=[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times_(Sri_Lanka))|date=8 February 2001|access-date=20 February 2025}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Lemper](/source/Lemper)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{European presence in Ceylon}}
{{Sri Lankan cuisine}}

Category:Meat and rice dishes
Category:Sri Lankan rice dishes
Category:Dutch Ceylon
Category:Sri Lankan lamb dishes
Category:Sri Lankan egg dishes
Category:Netherlands–Sri Lanka relations

{{SriLanka-cuisine-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lamprais](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamprais) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamprais?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.