Sri Lankan Food: 5 of the Island's Best Dishes - Explore the Island's Rich Culinary Heritage

When you hear the unmistakable clang clang of metal hitting a grill, you know kottu roti is being made! This popular street food is essentially a stir-fry made with shredded godhamba roti (a type of flatbread), vegetables, eggs, and sometimes meat like chicken or beef. It's cooked on a hot griddle with lots of spices and topped with a dollop of chili sauce for a bit of heat.

Kottu roti is beloved by both locals and tourists, making it a must-try dish when in Sri Lanka. It’s filling, flavourful, and perfect for a quick, tasty meal on the go. You’ll find this dish just about everywhere—from street vendors to local restaurants. 

Hoppers, or appa, are a staple breakfast dish in Sri Lanka that you can’t miss. Imagine a thin, crispy pancake made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk, with a soft, spongy center. The best part? You can have a hopper in a variety of ways—plain, with an egg in the middle (egg hopper), or even sweet with palm treacle and coconut. These delicate delights are usually eaten for breakfast or dinner and are often paired with sambols (spicy relishes) or curries. Suppose you’re staying in the capital city and want to give them a try. In that case, many Sri Lankan restaurants in Colombo offered by many places including Cinnamon Grand Colombo serve up delicious, piping-hot hoppers that will set your day off to a good start.

Fish plays a significant role in Sri Lankan cuisine, and one of the most unique fish dishes you’ll encounter is Fish Ambul Thiyal, or sour fish curry. Made with chunks of firm fish (typically tuna), this dish is simmered in a mix of spices, including dried goraka (a tamarind-like fruit), which gives it its signature sour flavour. It’s often slow-cooked until the spices infuse every bite of the fish.

No Sri Lankan meal is complete without pol sambol, a spicy coconut relish that brings an extra kick to any dish. Made with freshly grated coconut, red chilli powder, lime juice, and onions, this simple yet flavourful accompaniment is the perfect partner to rice, roti, or hoppers. You can think of it as a local “salsa,” but with more texture and a deeper flavour profile thanks to the combination of coconut and spices.

A colonial fusion dish with Dutch Burgher origins, Lamprais is a unique Sri Lankan dish that's both comforting and packed with flavour. It consists of rice cooked in meat stock, served with various curries, such as chicken, beef, or mutton, along with sambols and deep-fried boiled eggs. What makes Lamprais special is that the entire meal is wrapped in a banana leaf and baked, allowing the flavours to meld together beautifully.