Her parents were part of a generation who left Sri Lanka, but Cynthia grew up surrounded by reminders of it, from her mum drawing pictures of the island to writing blue aerogrammes to cousins back home. Summer visits made her feel “taller, stronger and more ourselves”, and returning to Jaffna as an adult, after the war, brought her closer to the food and traditions she had grown up hearing about.
Watching her mum cook over a fire, seeing her dad’s family bring vegetables in from the fields and buying crab directly from fishermen made Cynthia realise just how much she had to learn from the food of her family. “Mum, you’ve got skills I didn’t know you had,” she remembers thinking. It was a style of cooking rooted in seasonality, local produce and fire, something Cynthia wanted to bring to London in a way that felt true to where she came from.
That idea began to take shape while Cynthia was working for a social enterprise in Bethnal Green. She started helping other people launch food businesses through Kitchenette, learning on the job about food, restaurants and what it takes to build something from scratch. The experience eventually made her realise there was something missing. She had grown up eating the food her family cooked in Sri Lanka and wanted to bring those flavours to London.
That became Rambutan, where Cynthia brings together Sri Lankan cooking techniques with the produce, people and influences of London. One of the dishes closest to her is the Jaffna crab curry, made using her grandmother’s recipe and her family’s own Jaffna curry powder. It is packed with roasted chillies, fennel, cumin and smoky spices, balanced with sweet coconut milk and curry leaves, allowing the delicate flavour of the crab to come through. Her grandmother and mum recorded many of their old recipes, giving Cynthia a direct connection to the generations before her. Every time the curry is made, she says, it feels like keeping a little piece of her grandmother alive.
On 11 October, Rambutan will celebrate the dish with a special Jaffna Crab Night at Borough Market, serving whole British crabs cooked in fiery northern-style spices and coconut milk, alongside shorteats, sambols and seasonal sides. There will also be a special wine list selected with Newcomer Wines. For Cynthia, the evening is another way of celebrating the food, stories and traditions that have shaped Rambutan.
Even the Rambutan identity reflects that mix of cultures. Its branding takes inspiration from the yali, a mythical hybrid creature found in Hindu stories and particularly meaningful to Jaffna Tamil people, representing the different influences that come together in the restaurant. For Cynthia, being caught between two cultures was once something she thought meant she was missing something. Now, she sees it as Rambutan’s strength: a restaurant rooted in Sri Lankan Tamil food, shaped by London and the diaspora, where traditional recipes can evolve while the stories and techniques behind them remain alive.
Counter Culture
Counter Culture is LOTI’s original documentary series focusing on the inspiring people behind London’s shops, kitchens and counter tops – and the human stories you don’t see from the street. From corner shops doubling as cultural hubs to refugee chefs rebuilding their lives through food, each episode explores how migration, identity, family and community shape and enrich the city.
Real people. Real places. Stories you won’t find anywhere else.
See more in our series here.
