Athula Gamage feels right at home in a Taipei night market. The easygoing Sri Lanka native has served curry roti wraps for five years near Bitan (碧潭), a popular tourist spot in Sindian (新店), and enjoys a loyal following of Taiwanese and foreign customers in the neighborhood.
After tasting the wraps, you might imagine them to be authentically Sri Lankan, but Athula - sounds like Ah-tool-uh - says with a hint of pride that they are his own recipe. He describes his roti as "not Indian and not Sri Lankan" - they're made from flour, as well as homemade curry powder and turmeric, which add a subtle, slightly sweet flavor. The roti is cooked on a wok turned upside down, without oil. In terms of consistency, they're somewhere between a Mexican tortilla and a Taiwanese scallion pancake (蔥油餅).
A resident of Taiwan since 1988, Athula Gamage left home because "Sri Lanka was a dangerous place to live in," referring to the country's ongoing civil war. Sri Lankan friends already living here convinced him to come, and he worked at various factory jobs until he finally decided that he wanted to be his "own boss." He had always loved cooking, which he studied in an after-school program as a teenager.
PHOTO: DAVID CHEN, TAIPEI TIMES
He started out selling wraps in front of his apartment in Xindian, testing them on friends and neighbors. From there, he came up with five basic curries: beef (NT$60), mutton (NT$60), chicken (NT$50), tuna and potato (NT$50) and vegetarian (NT$50), made from toor dal, or yellow lentils used in Indian cooking. Sri Lankan food, he says, is generally "too spicy for Taiwanese," so his curries are mild. He adds chili pepper on request.
They're all delicious, so pick according to whichever meat you prefer. The homemade curry powder is made in Sri Lanka by Gamage's mother and cousin and shipped to Taipei. The beef and mutton wraps, which are cooked with a roasted "black curry" powder, are tender and a little chewy. I was surprised to find out that Gamage doesn't use coconut milk in his yellow chicken curry, which has a rich flavor and consistency. The tuna and potato combination was inspired by a traditional Sri Lankan dish, and is worth trying if you're in the mood for something different. The dal curry, which is tasty and substantial, has improved over the past year, as Gamage has tweaked the recipe.
To round out the flavor of the wraps, Gamage adds shredded lettuce, raw chopped onion, a touch of mayonnaise and a small tomato slice. The raw onion can be a little too strong, and I prefer extra tomatoes; Gamage is happy to put in more or less of these ingredients at no charge. Be sure to let him know in advance, as he works at a fast and robotic pace. Other additions include sliced boiled egg (NT$10) and cheese (NT$10). Gamage says he's feeling the crunch of rising prices, so expect a NT$5 to NT$10 increase for his meat curries starting next month.
Weekends are busiest, but Gamage enjoys the friendly atmosphere of Friday nights - a group of foreigners from the neighborhood often gather at the stand to drink beer and talk, while local regulars stop in for their weekly fix.
Gamage's stand is located in the night market just past the entrance to the Bitan pedestrian bridge. Get off at Xindian (新店) MRT Station, veer left, and walk towards the market. It's a five-minute stroll.
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