Unity in Diversity: Stories about Sri Lankan food, heritage culture and hospitality

South Asian Heritage Month should create space for people to tell their own stories, in their own words. Ranji Thangiah, founder of Tooting Mama and host of Tea with Tooting Mama, uses food to explore Sri Lankan heritage, identity and belonging through conversations with chefs, hoteliers, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs. 

Ranji has previously joined Talking Hospitality to discuss the growing visibility of Sri Lankan cuisine in Britain, so it feels particularly fitting to welcome her back as a guest writer. 

In this article, she draws on three of the sixteen conversations she has recorded to show how heritage continues to influence hospitality businesses, creative ideas and the places where communities gather. It is a personal reflection on this year’s South Asian Heritage Month theme, Unity in Diversity, told by someone who understands that these stories live not only in recipes, but in the people who carry them forward.

Unity in Diversity: Stories about Sri Lankan food, heritage culture and hospitality

I started my podcast in 2024.

I booked my first guest, sent the questions, we met up on Zoom, I hit record and that was it. I did the post-production myself, teaching myself the basics of Adobe Audition. Once I had a final cut I was happy with, I pulled together the show notes, created the artwork in Canva, and posted my first podcast effort on my Substack.

Since then I have recorded 16 episodes of Tea with Tooting Mama. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but alongside a full-time job, a side hustle in content creation, recipe development and now guiding tours, I'm amazed I got beyond the first recording.

What matters most about what I do is the story. It's the common thread that ties all my creative work together. And that story is all about Sri Lankan heritage and culture told through the lens of food.

The Sri Lankan diaspora in the UK is small, standing at around 700,000. The initial wave arrived after independence, professional classes helping to rebuild a post-war Britain. The podcast offers you a chance to listen in on rich, deep conversations with people from the Sri Lankan diaspora, people with an interest in food that often intersects with hospitality.

Dee Gibson, Hotelier 

My first guest, Dee Gibson, built the award-winning Kalukanda House in the south of Sri Lanka. Guests are treated to an intimate, luxurious experience, with the chance to learn to cook Sri Lankan food with the hotel's chef, among other experiences. Kalukanda House has become more than just a hotel; it's become a platform to advocate for the creativity of Sri Lankan women, both in the UK and in Sri Lanka.

Listen to the episode here.

Vibushan Thirukumar, Socially Conscious Entrepreneur

Vibashan Thirukumar arrived in the UK as a refugee. He dropped out of university, trained as an accountant, and worked at Second Home when co-working was still in its infancy. He then took that experience and created Oru Space, a venture that combines co-working with wellness.

The first site opened in Dulwich, a second in Sutton, a third is about to open in East London, and there's a retreat in Spain. My big takeaway from this episode was about trusting your gut. When everyone told him not to do it, he opened a Sri Lankan-inspired cafe restaurant at his Dulwich site. Let's just say it's a roaring success. And the Sutton site has just won a RIBA award for best conversion.

Listen to the episode here.

Jack Lury, Director of Lury, Hastings

And finally Jack. Jack Lury. I came across Jack on Instagram; he was running supper clubs in Dulwich, combining his classical training with Sri Lankan flavours inspired by his Burgher heritage. Burghers in Sri Lanka are the people who descend from Dutch or Portuguese settlers, and this heritage is reflected in their culture and their food. I had been meaning to go to one of these supper clubs, but suddenly they disappeared.

After lockdown, Jack popped up again  in Hastings, with a baby and a small ten-seater restaurant, Lury. Since then, that restaurant has been ripping up the rule book for Sri Lankan cooking to rave reviews. If you go to dine there, and you must, you'll be feasting on a ten-course tasting menu that is utterly exquisite. Each morsel contains a unique story that takes you back to the island.

Listen to the episode here.

This year's South Asian Heritage Month celebrates unity in diversity, and that couldn't be more apt. The Sri Lankan community is hugely diverse, made up of Sinhalese, Tamils, Burghers (like Jack), Indian migrants, Moors, Malays and more. What truly binds this community, both in the UK and in Sri Lanka, is our food.

Ranji Thangiah is the founder of Tooting Mama, a Sri Lankan food culture platform. A food writer, podcaster and content creator, she writes about Sri Lankan food from a diaspora point of view. She has recently set up an immersive Sri Lankan food tour which gives guests the chance to explore Sri Lankan food heritage in Tooting.