Lunu Miris

Lunu miris is a Sri Lankan-style chilli-and-onion condiment. Roshani Wickramasinghe’s selected version uses red onion, chilli flakes, Maldive fish chips, salt, lime juice and the optional chilli powder.

The author describes bold spicy, citrusy, salty and umami flavours. Chilli flakes supply heat, optional chilli powder deepens the red colour, and Maldive fish chips contribute the described umami depth.

The selected red onion is chopped with the author’s offered manual food chopper. Chilli flakes, Maldive fish chips, salt and optional chilli powder are ground in a mortar until the larger fish-chip pieces break down.

The same chopped onion is added and pounded with the pestle until it mixes thoroughly with the chillies into a rough paste. The selected mortar method follows the author’s preference for controlling this texture.

Lime juice is mixed through with a spoon, and the same salt and lime adjust the balance to a prominent citrus flavour. The author recommends serving freshly made; this presentation chooses ready kiribath alongside.