Currying flavour with Alphonso and Currymuch

By David Ebert

I’d say that the most stressful part of any Colombo office worker’s day has to be the time leading up to lunch. If you aren’t the type of person who brings a home cooked packed lunch or aren’t fortunate enough to have a convenient lunch spot close by your workplace, then you’ve probably spent more time trying out every little nook and corner shop that promises a decent rice and curry than actually enjoying it.

It’s the same problem that Stefan Andre Joachim, owner of Colombo’s first fast food rice and curry franchise ‘Currymuch’ and self professed curry connoisseur, faced when his much-loved rice and curry spot suddenly closed down. The frustration of having been denied a decent daily rice and curry lunch inspired him to open his very own, along with his business partner Harsha Subasinghe, and the results are somewhat encouraging to say the least.

Currymuch offers you a pretty decent rice and curry menu that changes with each day, made with the freshest ingredients and a firm emphasis on home-grown Sri Lankan ingredients and spices. As stated on the company’s website, Currymuch offers healthy methods, secret flavours, great quantities, superb marketing and packaging and a big hoo haa to keep the prices low and somehow manage to remain true to that promise.

With a mouth-watering array of breakfast options available as well, like the already famous roast paan stuffed with Sri Lankan omelette and a generous helping of Colombo’s best pol sambol, you’re guaranteed to want to try one of those combos like I did, since it took me back to those good old days of being given free run of my mom’s kitchen at snack time.

The man behind the delicious dishes, Alphonso, could be called a spice expert; hailing from Portuguese descent, and with Grandma’s homemade recipes ingrained in his mind, he personally oversees the preparation of all the dishes and interacts with customers who call in for orders, but most importantly, Alphonso handles all feedback on each dish and constantly adapts tastes to suit the palates of his customers.

Speaking to Stefan on the concept and how the brand’s chief protagonist Alphonso came into the picture, Joachim had a very interesting story about his beginnings into the culinary world, although being a qualified designer first and curry lover second.

“Currymuch is essentially a branded product which I felt was badly needed in this country. It came about simply by tossing around certain recipes that Alphonso’s grandmother used back in the day where he used to follow her around the kitchen when he was much younger. We have the same experiences and when I went to university in Australia to do my design degree, I essentially paid my way through my studies by cooking those very same dishes my grandmother used to make and I loved it because there was a big demand from people who badly needed a decent well-cooked rice and curry; that is where the idea grew.”

Following that experience, Joachim went on to build up a highly successful design business as well, living and working in Colombo and having to face the lunch rush every day. “There used to be this little rice and curry shop close by to my office where I used to have my lunch at everyday because the food was tasty, the people were nice and I used to spend a lot of time just eating and chatting to them until one day I walked to the shop and found it shut down. I was devastated and I that’s when I knew that this was my chance to do something that I truly believed in and it all began from there.”

Joachim is a firm believer in the home-grown food concept, preferring to support the local economy even going as far as only choosing ingredients supplied by local manufacturers wherever possible.

“My passion is really to do something essentially home-grown because of my love for all things Sri Lankan and a lot of the tastes from my past that I want to recreate and share among food lovers in the country. I also want to ensure that most of the money that circulates within my business stays within the local economy.

“I do this by sourcing most of my supplies from places such as the economic centres which I believe ensure the continued well being of our local entrepreneurs. With so many foreign franchises around these days, it is sad fact that most of the income generated goes out of the country. This is why my emphasis on the home-grown aspect of my business is very important to me.”

Currymuch currently offers delivery only within the city limits at the moment and is open for breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., while lunch is served from 12 noon to 2.30 p.m. every day. The daily menus can be checked out on the company’s website www.currymuch.com or found on Facebook, where daily picture updates on the various offerings can be viewed prior to ordering.

Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe