May 24, 2025
Unforgettable Sri Lankan cooking experience - What an unforgettable experience my husband and I had yesterday cooking with Mohara. She welcomed us into her home and sat and chatted with us before taking us into her demonstration kitchen and dining area. We were introduced to all the ingredients we would use and
then it was down to work. We made 7 dishes plus sambals, Mohara made it so easy and enthused us with her passion for the flavours and colours of Sri Lankan cuisine. She and her staff were an absolute delight to be with. And the best part was sitting down to eat the delicious food with her. The best cooking experience I have ever had. I would highly recommend spending time with Mohara at her class. You will leave with a sense of delight and joy from experiencing some real Sri Lankan hospitality.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 30, 2025
Cooking by Colour - Mohara graciously welcomed us into her home and cooking studio. Her enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge and tips was infections.
Over the next three hours, we enjoyed a hands-on cooking class where we cooked numerous types of meals (meat, fish and vegetable curries, two different rices and a sambal).
We were also lucky to try our hand at grating coconut in the traditional way, to make the coconut sambal.
It was wonderful to be able to cook some of the foods that we had been eating whilst on our travels around Sri Lanka.
The recipe book that she gave us will be used when we arrive back home.
Thanks also to her team of assistants who had worked behind the scenes before we arrived to prep the kitchen and ingredients for our class as well as cleaning our mess along the way and at the end.
We highly recommend Cooking by Colour. It was a wonderful way to end our visit to Sri Lanka.
Review provided by Viator
Apr 26, 2025
Sri Lankan cuisine : A hands on experience - I had the. pleasure of joining an interesting cooking by color experience with Mohara and guests from Australia yesterday. It was educational and an interesting 'hands on' experience as we helped cook the entire meal chopping garlic, ginger, green chillies and onions and adding them to the dishes being cooked. The meal consisted of curried crab, stir fried potatoes, a King Fish curry, Dhal curry, Chicken curry, stir fried chopped green leaf with shredded coconut (mallum in Sinhalese), fried egg plant with capcicum chillies, a popular coconut and chillie chutney (pol sambol), scraped in traditional style, accompanied by two types of rice, one with ghee and another dark brown brown rice. rich in vitamin B.
The demonstration was knowledgeable as the explanations which followed were clear stressing the importance of having healthy organic food in the daily food diet.
The grand finale was followed by curries served in the terra kotta clay containers the food was cooked in, (utensils, pots used by especially the villagers), Participants enjoyed savoring the variety of food with home made spices and the perfect ambiance for the occasion.
I enjoyed the great experience of participating in a traditional Sri Lankan meal.
Mohara adds to this her experience, using home made spices as well as cooking in an open fire with traditional clay pots which enhances the great taste of the food.
I hope many more guests interested in Sri Lanka's traditional cuisine will join Mohara's 'cooking by color' sessions at her beautiful and cosy home in Nawala, only a 10 minute ride from the center of Colombo.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 27, 2025
Best of Culinary Experience - There is no enogh words to explain how wonderful it was. Everyone of us had a fantastic time filled with lots of fun, knowledge and not to forget the delicious foods that we all did prepared obviously with Mrs. Doles unstoppable guidance and lovely chats. It was far beyond cooking. And was completely a participatory culinary experience, which took us a long way leaving a ton of joyment to treasure in our life. A BIG THANK YOU TO AUNTY MOHORA !!! Keep up your great work and enjoy life to the full. You take care and wish you all the very best and best of health ❤️ from Viranthaka
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 9, 2024
Warm and inviting course on local Sri Lankan cuisine - Aunty Mo provided a diverse and thoughtful crash course on Sri Lankan cooking. Having visited Sri Lanka several times, this course provided terrific insight to the local cuisine. I was impressed by the diverse range of dishes from a similar baseline of ingredients, and each dish produced offered a complex, flavourful outcome. Aunty Mo is warm, passionate about local cuisine, and grateful she opened up her home and heart for this course.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 30, 2023
An Amazing Introduction to the World of Sri Lankan Cooking - Mohara Dole is an accomplished chef and recipe author who conceived the approach "Cooking by Color" to underscore the ways you can assess quantities of key ingredients such as chili powder and coconut milk in a dish, whether the dish is sufficiently cooked, and simply the beautiful range of colors in putting together a meal.
Mohara runs this highly personalized class in her beautiful home for individuals and small groups. Those with some familiarity of south Asian ingredients, cooking terms, and techniques will be delighted with the opportunity to produce several fairly sophisticated dishes in traditional clay pots. For those with minimal cooking experience, Mohara is happy treating the class as a demonstration, doing some or all of the preparation herself and explaining as she goes, and encouraging you to be as much hands-on as you are comfortable.
There is not a fixed start or end time to the session, and Mohara will prefer to customize it around your time and interests, including discussing the menu.
I was Mohara's student on a sunny, breezy day in Colombo. After a little introductory chat over a freshly made coconut drink, Mohara went over key ingredients, some of which are common to South Asian cooking and others more particular to Sri Lanka cuisine. In all, and with the quiet and confident help of Mohara's assistant, we made two different types of rice, a warm vegetable side dish, and four wonderful curries (chicken, prawn, mango, and a type of local squash). Mohara encouraged me to do as much of the prep and cooking as I wanted, up to and including grating coconut on a traditional grater. After eating all the delicious food, we enjoyed scoops of firm-style yogurt (curd) with honey, and famous Ceylon coffee or tea.
The personal touch, extent of the menu, and introduction to so many local techniques and ingredients was exactly what I was looking for. Mohara was a delightful teacher, and I would recommend this experience for anyone who really wants to immerse in Sri Lanka cooking.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 20, 2020
Magical Afternoon - We scheduled an afternoon cooking class with Mohara and the experience did not disappoint. Her home is a wonderful setting to enjoy delightful, hands-on instructions on cooking the many specialties Sri Lanka has to offer. Mohara is a patient and enjoyable host, teacher, and chef. She is extremely talented and is very open to sharing her skills. If you have the opportunity to be in Sri Lanka, spend time with Mohara. We are so glad we did!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor