Galle Fort Cooking Class

What a brilliant way to have dinner in Galle! You learn all about the ingredients and how to cook it. So welcoming and friendly. Really informative and food was delicious! Totally recommend if you want to eat good Sri Lankan curry and learn how to make it when you get home. They give you a great recipe book as well.

A fun and informative course into Sri Lankan cooking! Make sure you arrive hungry as you’ll want to make the most of eating all the delicious food you make!

Gorgeous cooking teacher who was very knowledgeable and lovely and great group - loved it! Georgie

We had a wonderful time learning how to cook some Sri Lankan curries at Gale Fort Cooking class through Chilli Dragon Spices at Elite Cafe. It was great to be involved with each step of preparing the curries. At the end we had way too much food for just the two of us to consume! The dishes were a bit too hot for us and I would recommend only using half the amount of chill. Ordering a Lion beer to take the heat of the dishes was a good idea. I look forward to cooking the dishes when I return home, with a little less chilli.

We are very happy we found Shahira - it was a very special cooking experience in her apartment in Galle. We got to meet her family and share the meal we cooked with them afterwards. There was no special equipment, so we’ll be able to apply the knowledge back in our home kitchen. Shahira explained subtle nuances and techniques that will make our home curries better - and we did the cooking ourselves, it was a very hands-on class! We cooked several curries, chicken and vegetable ones, two types of rice, and mango and date pickle. Highly recommend this class if you want to learn or sharpen your skills in Sri Lankan cuisine cooking.

We really enjoyed the cooking class! The food was delicious and the information shared was very interesting. However, we expected it to be a bit more interactive. Instead of everyone having their own cooking station, we mostly helped with some chopping here and there rather than fully cooking the dishes ourselves. Still, it was a lovely experience overall.

Absolutely wonderful! Learned the basics about curry. Made several curries. Our cooking instructor’s English was perfect. The experience is well worth booking.

A must do for those who want a real Sri Lankan family food experience . Shahira is a wonderful cook that enlightens you with her knowledge of all the traditional spices of Sri Lanka and how to use them , not just on cooking . What a blessing to Have found this cooking class and be so warmly invited into Shahira’s home. What we loved was we did the cooking and she simply guided us. And then we sat down for a feast. We did a few cooking classes in Sri Lanka and they were no where as good as this as we did the cooking not watching someone else do all the work !!!

It was the perfect amount of time and with one other couple it was fun without being crowded. The food was very good. A good value for the money.

This was a great cooking experience. We learned how to make the basis of Sri Lankan curries & cooked five different curries & a salad as a group. We then dined together at the end. The produce & spices were very fresh & the teacher was inclusive & skilled at leading the session. I highly recommend.

We had a great time learning to cook Sri Lanka cuisine in a relaxed setting. We ate the food together after the cooking class and everything was absolutely delicious!

Sanju was very friendly and gave us great insights into how to make authentic Sri Lankan curries that we can “take home”!

Fantastic experience learning the basics of Sri Lankan cooking. Thoroughly enjoyed our time and all the curries cooked were delicious. Highly recommend taking the class. Only advice is to go hungry as it is a large quantity of food you get to eat 😋

A wonderful cooking class in the garden courtyard of a seafood restaurant. We made 6 different curries/dishes with Sanju and all were unique and delicious. Great fresh ingredients, informative and step by step instructions. Sanju is a delight. So happy to share her knowledge and skills.Thank you.

Fantastic morning today cooking up a storm. Food was delicious! Very well organised and a recipe book too. We made 5 vegetarian dishes and one seafood meal. Clear instructions and every one was able to participate.

My wife and I did a 1 1/2 hour cooking class with Sithumi yesterday. We cooked 5 dishes, Sithumi was a great instructor who showed us how easy it could be. We enjoyed the class and loved the food after. Recommended

Sanju is such a great teacher and really provides an authentic cooking experience. You leave with your own cookbook and the tools to create a sri lankan curry from home.

Excellent, the school was well run, 2 X couples cooked 6 dishes in one hour . The instructions were very clear including anecdotes of life as a female chef in SriLanka. We sat down after and ate our own dishes , was down with a cool beer. It doesn't get any better.

This cooking class was amazing! Lovely fresh Sri Lankan ingredients transformed into delicious curries. Sanju was a fantastic teacher and we both were amazed how quickly we could produce some mouth watering dishes! Would definite recommend this cooking class in Galle Fort

We visited Galle fort cooking class in late January 2025 and we had a wonderful experience with the lovely Sanju, teaching my wife and I some Sri Lankan cooking skills. Sanju is a wonderful teacher who was excellent in showing us how to make 6 beautiful dishes. The class is set inside the old fort with lovely old buildings giving it a rustic charm. We really enjoyed our class and got to eat what we’d just made in the family restaurant adjacent. We then bought spices from her husband in his store beside. Highly recommend this experience

Incredible experience. Sanju is super friendly and easy to understand. She provides a great understanding of the Sir Lankan cooking. We attended as a family. WE all got to participate. We enjoyed the food afterward. And we have the recipe book to remind us what we learned. I am looking forward to making more Sri Lankan food.

A great experience learning how to cook Sri Lankan curry. Sanju is a fabulous teacher we all participated with spices chopping vegetables, cooking different curries and then we got to eat our delights

Excellent introduction to Sri Lankan curry making. Our host was very welcoming and patient whilst explaining the art of Sri Lankan food preparation. We created 6 different dishes and each was delicious. Highly recommended experience for those who love cooking.

We booked the 4:00pm class and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves learning how to prepare and cook authentic Sri Lankan food from our excellent chef. Then we sat in the restaurant and ate the delicious food including pumpkin, beetroot, long bean, spinach, mushroom and prawn curry. Afterwords we bought some of the ingredients from spice shop run by the chef’s husband, they are a lovely couple and we would recommend this activity. Enjoyed a few drinks in the evening at the beautiful Galle Fort.

Fabulous time learning from Sanju - relaxing and happy. And the end result was six delicious dishes we got to enjoy!

This was undoubtedly one of the highlights of our three-week holiday in Sri Lanka. Sanju and her husband were exceptionally accommodating and delivered an engaging and highly informative introduction to Sri Lankan cuisine. Together with another couple, we cooked seven incredible dishes. Interestingly, the vegan dishes emerged as everyone’s favourites – I’d definitely suggest focusing on those! In fact, some of these dishes were the best meals we had during our entire time in Sri Lanka. The evening itself was not only great fun but also incredibly educational. We picked up practical cooking skills and invaluable tips. The recipe booklet we received at the end has been a game-changer, allowing us to recreate the flavours of Sri Lanka back home in the UK. This cooking class is a must, regardless of your skill level in the kitchen. We couldn’t recommend it more!

We loved our stay in Galle and this was certainly a highlight. Galle was at the end of our Sri Lankan trip so the cooking class was perfect as we learnt to cook the delicious curries we had been enjoying for the last few weeks. As well as learning to cook six dishes we also learnt about the spices and how to use them and we also picked up some handy cooking tips. The food tasted just delicious. The presentation the class was excellent and extremely professional. We would highly recommend.

We had an enjoyable cooking class with Sanju. Our group could have been seen as very challenging as it included included 4 locals, one of whom is an exceptional cook. However, Sanju kept it interesting and fun for all six of us. The six dishes that we prepare were delicious and the recipe pamphlet means that the dishes can be recreated at home. Highly recommend.

This was a great experience for us and our three young children. It was highly interactive and Sanju does a great job to ensure everyone is able to participate in the preparation of the dishes. The duration of the lesson at 90 minutes is right on point. Enough time to enjoy the experience and the meal whilst still leaving plenty of time to explore Galle Fort. The curries, in terms of flavour and ingredient combinations, are very different (better) to those that are available at most other hotels and restaurants. The ingredients and the flavours are spectacular. As was the setting. The cooking lessons are conducted in an outdoor kitchen in the garden behind the family's restaurant. It added real atmosphere to the experience.

Really great cooking class - had great time and learnt loads. Cooked 6 dishes which were all amazing and it was a huge amount of fun with our lovely Sri Lankan hosts learning more about the food and family life! Highly recommend.

The cooking class began with executive sous chef Roshan Rosa taking us through the immaculate Galle fruit & vegetable market followed by the beach-side seafood market to select fresh ingredients for our lesson. He is very knowledgeable and told us how to tell if fish are fresh and he nutritional value of the various local vegetables and fruit on sale. We then returned to the Galle Fort Hotel and arranged to regroup later to cook lunch. Meanwhile Roshan and his team prepped all the garlic, onion, chillies & the rest of the produce. The team assembled a portable kitchen and together with my daughter they made around 6 dishes; tuna curry, prawn curry, a dry aubergine curry, string bean curry, grated beetroot curry, banana flower curry and a number of delicious others. Roshan explained the use of the spices and ingredients throughout the process including quantities. We then enjoyed an incredibly fresh and delicious lunch. My favourite was the tuna, my husband loved the prawns. It was a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds and Roshan is not only a very talented prize-winning chef, he is absolutely lovely too. We are hoping to repeat this culinary extravaganza at home but suspect we will need to take Roshan back to Australia with us!

We had such a lovely morning having a hands on cookery experience with Sanju and her husband, they were so welcoming and we thoroughly enjoyed learning how to cook Sri Lankan cuisine. We'll enjoy recreating the dishes at home with the help of the recipe booklet provided. It was an added bonus being the only 2 on the course with it being low season. Thank you for a great lesson and providing ever lasting memories of a great holiday

We were lucky enough to be the only 2 in the class. Sanju explained all about the different ingredients and was knowledgeable and very informative. As well as friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend this cooking class.

A great experience in Galle Fort, it’s a lovely local teaching authentic Sri Lankan curries, recipes taught to her by her mum and her grandmother. The class was 1.5 hours followed by lunch - excellent way to spend a morning . A nice thing about the class was that recipes were provided , ingredients are all available to replicate and was a nice venue too. Would recommend this.

Sanju was the most lovely person to teach this cooking class! I had the best time cooking with her and chatting with her family :) The food we made was the best I tried in Sri Lanka!!

This was a really wonderful way to spend a morning. We learnt a lot about Sri Lankan cooking and ingredients, and Sanju was a knowledgeable and patient teacher. And best of all, we got to eat to dishes we had prepared for lunch! Overall we prepared 5-6 dishes, so it was a feast! We had a lovely time, and thoroughly recommend this experience.

Excellent cooking experience, we cooked 6 different dishes including prawn curry and pumpkin curry. The class was very hands on with good instruction. Once we had cooked everything we ate the food in there lovely restaurant. You are also given a recipe leaflet on many different Sri Lankan dishes. Excellent Experience with a lovely family.

The teacher was really nice and she explained everything very well. It was nice to have it outside, the place was pretty. We had a fun time learning about sri lankian food. After we got to eat the food we made in the restaurant with rice. I enjoyed it a lot! And we also got a recipe book we could bring back home which i really liked.

I attended Galle Fort cooking class and it was truly amazing and by far one of my favourite experiences during my time in Sri Lanka. Sanju and her husband were so lovely and gave insight into their knowledge of spices. The food was really lovely and made very simple to follow! Highly recommend!

An amazing two hours learning cooking Sri Lankan style. Simple recipes that are easy to follow at home, lively and patient teacher and overall a wonderful experience. Then we got to eat the wonderful food we had cooked. Highly recommended!

We enjoyed our local cooking class and learnt many simple tips that we will use in the future. In a short space of time we made 5 vegetable dishes and our lovely instructor made the final shrimp curry for us. An enjoyable and instructive session. Make sure to check out the spice shop run by her husband.

Thank you to Sanju and her family for a great experience. We cooked some amazing food and learnt the efficient tricks to easily make Sri Lanka food. The restaurant and family were welcoming and really helpful in the cooking experience. Thanks again, Amelia & Rachel

Very nice cooking class! Sanju explained it all in a very professional but nice and easy way. She explained the differences between flavors and dishes and how to prepare basics. After that we had the chance to participate in cooking. And: after the class we went to the restaurant and could taste it all.

Angel and her husband are so welcoming, easy to chat to and its a really informative cooking class. It's seamlessly put together and outdoors too which was such a nice way to cook. We made 6 dishes in total and was also given a recipe book to take home with many more. Every single dish was so tasty and we learned some great tips and basics to make a great curry at home. I can't recommend enough, one of the best things we have done here.

This was by far one our favourite experiences during our time in Sri Lanka. Sanju and her husband were so lovely and we had such a laugh with them. The food was really tasty and Sanju made everything seem so simple, explaining all the steps and ingredients. And we love the recipe book! Highly recommend!

Loved it and highly recommend to anyone staying in Galle! It was super interesting, cooked a of curries, very tasty, fresh ingredients and the teacher was such a sweet lady! 🫶

If you do anything in Galle do this class. Sanju explains everything perfectly and involves you. Her family restaurant is also great.

We had a lovely cooking class with Sanju and enjoyed it so much! We learned how to make traditional Sri Lanka curry and fried vegetables. All ingredients were super fresh and Sanju took the time to explain us the different spices and which are used for the dishes. We did a lot ourselves so that we know now for sure how to cook it back home. We had the chance to eat all of the dishes afterwards in a calm atmosphere and it was absolutely delicious! They also have a spice shop close by so we bought the spices and things which we also used for cooking directly there. We can highly recommend this cooking class to everyone!

My partner and I took a class with Sanju and had a great time learning about the different ways of Sri Lankan cooking and making 6 dishes in total. Sanju was relaxed and super friendly! After cooking you get to sit and enjoy all of your dishes in the restaurant which is great - I would recommend going with an empty stomach as you end up making lots of (delicious) food which you want to keep eating! There is also a spice shop where you can buy lots of the spices you use and cool coconut dishes!