MA's Kitchen Colombo Chicken Curry Paste is a ready-to-use spice paste made in Sri Lanka, designed to take a home cook from raw chicken to a Colombo-style curry in around 20 minutes. The 60g carton contains enough paste to serve four people at a medium heat level, making it a practical choice for a midweek family dinner or an introduction to Sri Lankan cooking for anyone new to the cuisine.
The paste is built around a broad foundation of whole spices and herbs — coriander, chilli, tamarind, ginger, curry leaves, cumin, pepper, turmeric, mustard, cinnamon, fenugreek, fennel, cardamom, and clove — ground and combined with palm oil, vinegar, tomato, garlic, onion, rice, salt, sugar, and a nature-identical chicken flavour. That last ingredient means the paste is not suitable for vegetarians. The balance of tamarind and tomato provides a slight acidity that cuts through the richness of a finished curry, while the layering of warming spices reflects the kind of flavour profile found in a traditional Sri Lankan household kitchen rather than a simplified export blend.
MA's Tropical Food Processing (Pvt) Ltd, the manufacturer, was established in Dambulla after the founders noticed that travellers passing through their guesthouse wanted to take the taste of Sri Lankan curry home with them but could find no reliable way to do so. The company's factory remains in Dambulla, in Sri Lanka's North Central Province, and holds Food Safety System Certification (FSSC 22000), a globally recognised standard incorporating HACCP principles.
Using the paste follows a short method printed on the carton: marinate 500g of chicken pieces in the full 60g of paste, sauté sliced onion in oil, add the marinated chicken and brown it, then pour in coconut milk and water and simmer for ten minutes. The coconut milk is added by the cook and is not part of the paste itself. For a more traditional result, the pack suggests sautéing a handful of curry leaves, a teaspoon of black mustard seeds, and four chopped dried chillies at the onion stage before the chicken goes in.
Once opened, the paste should be refrigerated and used within one month. The carton is labelled in English, Sinhala, and Tamil, reflecting the three main languages of Sri Lanka, and the product is described on pack as Sri Lanka's Family Favourite.
