Joanna James
Sri Lankan food is an experience you will never forget if done right! Being exotic and a different kind of Asian food, here are some of the best food choices you shouldn't miss out on while visiting the island.
Red or white rice eaten with a bunch of curries is a typical Sri Lankan lunch. Rice is also milled to make string hoppers, hoppers, pittu, noodles and sweetmeats. Since ancient times, Sri Lankans used a variety of indigenous rice paddy, which are tastier and cultivated free of pesticides, as well as boasting a higher nutritional value. If you come across a place serving traditional rice, you are in for a true Sri Lankan meal.
An essential ingredient in Sri Lankan curries is roasted curry powder and raw curry powder. This spice mix is used to prepare all types of curries, from vegetables and lentils to fish and meat. Curries are generally cooked in thick coconut milk to add a creamy mouth feel. White curries will feature more coconut milk and less spice. Sri Lankan cooks will use more spices and ingredients like fresh pandan leaves, green chillies, garlic, onions, cinnamon, tamarind, garcinia and curry leaves to enrich the flavours. Cashew nut curry, jackfruit seed curry, pumpkin curry, dhal curry, and fish/chicken curry are some of the most popular options to eat with rice.
Sri Lankan breakfasts are a feast; if you prefer savoury breakfasts, you won't be disappointed. The best way to experience this would be at a buffet. If you go to any hotel or restaurant in Kandy, breakfast buffets are a common sight, and the likes of Amaya Hills Kandy are a good choice when in and around the city.
The most commonly consumed breakfast items are green porridge, milk rice, string hoppers, hoppers, coconut roti, and pittu. These will be eaten with curries like fish, chicken, and white potato gravy. It will also include condiments like coconut sambol (a variant of curry), red onion sambol and caramelised onion sambol. Fresh tropical fruit, curd with kithul treacle and a nice cup of tea is the best way to round up your meal.
Traditional Sinhalese sweetmeats are prepared at home during the Sinhala New Year period in April. You'll see some dishes like Kawum (oil cakes), Mung kavum (mung bean cakes), kokis (a type of cracker), milk toffee, as well as coconut toffee and aluwa are some of the favourites.
Buffaloe milk curd and Kithul treacle (sap of the Caryota urens) are a rich and delicious dessert. While wattalapam, made from jaggery, coconut milk, eggs and spices is a time-tested favourite originating from Sri Lankan Malay communities. Sago pudding made from sago pearls, coconut milk, jaggery, and spices is a tasty and cooling dessert for the body during the hot months. You can also find some tasty cakes like love cake, jaggery cake, and bibikkan (spiced coconut cake); all are inherently Sri Lankan inventions.
When it comes to street food nothing beats a kottu roti in Sri Lanka - when a type of flatbread roti called godamba is shredded into pieces and mixed on a hot girdle with metal shards. Vegetables, eggs, spices and curry sauce are added and given a thorough mix. Depending on your preference, meat or eggs are added, chicken being the top favourite. Cheese kottu is another option, where cheese and milk additions make the spicy kottu creamy and cheesy. Egg roti and vegetable roti are where the same godamba roti is filled with a cracked egg and cooked on a hot girdle, while the latter is stuffed with a spicy potato mixture.
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
