What happens when you take Sri Lankan comfort food to L.A. and serve it to a diverse group of people from multiple ethnicities? Well, we found out that you end up with hundreds of Kottu fans!
When on holiday, one of the partners of KottuLABS was approached by two Sri Lankan kottu fans, living in L.A., to take on a massive order of serving 200 folks in the Vision Christian Fellowship. Some context here is important. This partner was not the main chef at KOTTULABS, nor had he ever catered to 200 people! But having been trained by Chef Yatta, he knew the Kottu process well and was keen on taking on the challenge. You might have spotted him at the KOTTULAB when coming by to pick up your order.
And so it began! Don (the partner) and his family started multiple tasting sessions, trying to get the true taste of Sri Lankan Kottu with ingredients available in L.A. Numerous Whatsapp calls and voice memos later, Don, along with the help of the KOTTULABS team in LK was confident in a plan set. (The team at LK may have gotten slightly annoyed when the 20th call for the day came though).
The big day was soon upon them. Don enlisted the help of his family (listed below) and prep was underway. The Chicken was pre-cooked to perfection and the veggies and rotti were cut and ready to be made into a delicious plate of Kottu - all done mere hours away from the day so they still remain fresh and delicious. Remember, we had just one chef for the day, and 200 mouths to feed!
The menu consisted of a chicken pea (Kadala) Kottu for the vegetarians and a classic chicken Kottu. Staying true to the KOTTULABS style of making Kottu, a wok was used to mix and combine the ingredients to create that much awaited plate of Kottu.
Don started the Kottu creation process while, Ashantha (a Kottu helper for event) went around asking the crowd about their experience of tasting Kottu for the first time. While we can try to explain the wonderful atmosphere at the event and amazing reviews we received, we think a video will do it better justice! So go on and have a look below.
An overview of the event
The kottu reviews
We had prepped for just over 250 people and it was good thinking from us to do so! Everyone loved the Kottu so much that they packed some up to bring to their friends and family at home. It goes without saying that we’re extremely grateful for the opportunity and glad that we were able to do justice to the beloved Sri Lankan Kottu.
One event is successfully completed in L.A.! And the only question left is, where to next?
Stay tuned Kottu fans!
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