About this experience
Buffalo curd, mee kiri, is one of the foods the south of Sri Lanka is known for, and the country around Tissamaharama is where much of it is made. This private workshop takes you to a family of curd makers in a village near the town, to see how it is done by hand and to hear about the lives of the people who make it.
The visit starts with a walk around the different parts of the farm, then moves to the buffaloes themselves. You watch the female buffaloes being milked by hand, and if one of the animals is calm enough on the day, you may be invited to try milking yourself.
From there the milk is strained and poured into a large cauldron-like pot over a wood fire, where it is stirred as it boils. The boil takes two hours, but because the makers keep batches going all the time, you move on to each next stage without waiting. A souring agent goes into the boiled milk: in the past this was buffalo urine, which is no longer used, and today it is tamarind pulp, natural microbes or a spoonful of an earlier batch of curd. The milk is then poured into reddish-brown clay pots, covered with paper and left to set, the porous clay playing its own part in the curdling. It sounds simple, but getting the balance right so that the curd keeps well takes real skill.
An English-speaking guide explains each step and answers questions as you go, and because the experience is private, the pace is yours. At the end you sit down to a bowl of freshly made curd with kithul treacle, the dark syrup from the kithul palm that is its traditional partner at the Sri Lankan table.
Hotel pickup and drop-off are not included, so plan your own way to the workshop. Other food and drink, gratuities and personal expenses are also not included. Children aged five and over can join, and the visit is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Let us know in advance if you have any dietary requirements.
