Sri Lankan Cuisine

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Sri Lankan cuisine draws influence from the colonists and foreign traders. Rice, which is usually consumed daily, can be found at any special occasion, while spicy curries are favorite dishes for dinner and lunch A very popular alcoholic drink is toddy, made from palm tree sap. Arrack is the de-facto distilled national drink. Rice and curry refers to a range of Sri Lankan dishes. The cuisine of Sri Lanka shares similarities with the cuisines of South India.

Sri Lanka has a wonderful array of snacks, known as short eats, named cutlets, patties, malu pang (fish bun), and kimbula bunis (crocodile-shaped bun!) that are excellent for trips.Delectable fruit includes the popular mango, pineapple, banana and papaya, but also many lesser-known but distinctive examples such as sapodilla, mangosteen, rambuttan, woodapple, custard apple and beli.Sri Lankan food may be one of the simplest things to make, yet one of the most amazing bowls of deliciousness that Sri Lanka has contributed to the world, known as pol sambol.

It highlights the almighty coconut, a fruit that’s integral in Sri Lankan cooking. Pol salmbol is merely a mixture of shredded coconut, chili powder or dried chilies, lime juice, red onions, and salt – and believe me, every bite is like a miracle come true.

Appa (Hoppers)

Another food native to Sri Lanka served mainly for breakfast or dinner and often accompanied byLunu miris, a fiery hot mix of red onions and spices. Hoppers are made from a fermented batter of rice flour, coconut milk and a dash of palm toddy

Lamprais

Lamprais is rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by “frikkadels” (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked—is a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish

Kottu

Kottu is a spicy stir-fry of shredded roti bread with vegetables. Optional ingredients include eggs, meat, or cheese. It was invented in Batticaloa and literally means ‘chopped roti’ in Tamil

String Hoppers

String hoppers (idiyappam) are made from a hot-water dough of rice meal or wheat flour. The dough is pressed out in circlets from a string mold onto small wicker mats, and then steamed

Malay Achcharu

Malay Achcharu also known as Sri Lankan Malay pickle is a dish that originated from the local Malay community and is now widely popular among all ethnic groups in the country. It is a selection of veggies in a pickled sauce and blends sweet, sour and spicy flavors

Kiribath(Milk rice)

Kiribath (lit. ‘milk rice’) is rice cooked in salted coconut milk until the grains turn soft and porridge-like. Generally eaten for breakfast, kiribath is also prepared on special occasions such as birthdays, New Years’ and religious festivals. It is usually served with lunu miris, a relish made with red onions and chillies. During Aluth Avurudu/Puthandu, the Sinhalese/Tamil New Year, kiribath is served with sweets such as kavum, kokis, mung kavum

Deviled Sweet and Sour Fish Curry

There are a lot of different deviled dishes in Sri Lanka. This fish was deep fried and smothered in a lovely sweet and sour sauce and lightly fried again with red onions and banana peppers. It was excellent with fried rice and a flatbread paratha on the side.

Young Jackfruit Curry (Polos)

Sri Lankan food is famous for its curries – and “polos“, or young jackfruit curry, is one of favorites among Sri lankans.

Jackfruit is eaten in a number of different ripeness stages in Sri Lanka, but for preparing pols, the young, unripe jackfruit is used. The fruit is cut into chunks and simmered in a blend of rich spices.

This particular version (brown dish above) was so delicious.The pieces of jackfruit were tender, and tasted almost like a juicier version of a potato, and they were filled with the beautiful flavor spices.

Polos is so good, it could almost pass for chunks of tender beef!

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