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It was Sunday night when a friend of LAist texted us an invite to a small ad hoc fundraiser at Handmade Galleries in Sherman Oaks. "Come by," he wrote, "vegan sri lanka food." Having enjoyed Tara's Himalayan Cuisine on Venice Boulevard in the past, this opportunity for a new food couldn't be passed.
After 2004 tsunami devastated a number of countries around the Indian Ocean, a group of ten Sri Lankans living in Southern California got together with the help of the Sarathchandra Buddhist Meditation Center in North Hollywood to find a way to assist. Aid poured in from all over the world initially, but their small organization, the Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Fund, is a long-term project. Currently, its goals are two fold: one is to help keep parentless children with extended families instead of orphanages and the other is to assist in rebuilding schools--last year they funded two computer labs.
Kanthi and Gamini Edirisinghe of Carson are part of that committee and to help out, they created Sunday night's fundraiser dinner. The food, to say the least, was quite amazing leaving us wanting to explore more, which prompted us to ask, "where can one get more Sri Lankan food in Los Angeles?" There's only two, they said. There's Curry Bowl in Tarzana and Wadiya in Anaheim. For ingredients, there is a grocery store, also in Tarzana, called Sri Lankan Delight and the large Indian Sweets & Spices in Atwater Village has an aisle dedicated to the country.
For those who keep lists of restaurants to check out, these might be worthy of adding.
Update: Twitter user theminty lets us know of another Sri Lankan restaurant. Priyani Oriental Cafe is in Northridge.
