Wijaya Curry Powder is a Sri Lankan-made spice blend assembled from thirteen ingredients, ground and proportioned to produce the layered, rounded flavour that Sri Lankan home cooking is built around. Produced by Wijaya Products (Pvt) Ltd at their facility in Dedigamuwa, Mawathara, the blend has been part of the company's range since the brand was established in 1989. It is available in four pack sizes — 50g, 100g, 250g and 500g — so it suits a single-dish experiment as readily as a well-stocked kitchen.
The backbone of the blend is coriander, which makes up sixty per cent of the mix, followed by cumin at twenty-six per cent and turmeric at five per cent. Beyond those three, the remaining ingredients are curry leaves, fenugreek, garlic, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, rampe, goraka and adalee (bilawa). Goraka is a sour, resinous fruit native to Sri Lanka's tropical forests; it contributes the tartness that distinguishes a Sri Lankan curry from its South Asian neighbours. Rampe — known elsewhere as pandan leaf — adds a low, grassy warmth that does not announce itself but would be missed without it. Together these thirteen components produce a powder that is more complex than its simple name suggests.
The product carries the Sri Lanka Standards Institution's SLS 134 certification, the national specification for curry powder, which sets requirements for composition and quality. Wijaya Products (Pvt) Ltd also holds a suite of ISO certifications covering quality management, food safety management, environmental management, energy management, and occupational health and safety. The pack is labelled Vegetarian and No Alcohol, and is registered with Sri Lanka's food regulatory authority under code cd 2/85/A.
This is a product that travels well beyond the island. Wijaya exports across more than twenty countries including Australia, the United States, Europe and the Middle East, and the blend is calibrated to work in any kitchen, not just a Sri Lankan one. The powder works across meat, seafood and vegetable preparations, and holds its character in long-cooked dishes as well as quick dry-roasted ones. Per 100g, the nutritional information on the pack reads 200 kcal, with 34.5g carbohydrate, 13.1g protein and 6.7g fat.
