Sri Lankan food is spicy & fried and hence it has delicious flavor. Rice and curries form the Sri Lankan main food.
Sri Lanka has hot & humid climate, coconut trees and fish everywhere in the sea all around. These three components are also common to every Sri Lankan cuisine. Sri Lankan food is spicy & fried and hence it has delicious flavor. Rice and curries form the Sri Lankan main food. Whether it is sizzling seafood grill, a five course gourmet under the delight of the stars or the rich aroma of the Ceylon tea amidst the cloudy mountains, Sri Lanka is always an exotic blend of tastes and aromas that is enriched by a historic mix of traditional diversity.
Fusion food
Traveller from all around the world have always been attracted towards this island with spicy food and exotic tea flavors and they too left their legacy behind which also got interwoven into the Sri Lankan cuisine. Thus what we get today here is an interesting mix of the fusion food when we travel Sri Lanka.
Food components
- For breakfast and dinner, Sri Lankans replace rice with hoppers, string-hoppers, roti, or koththu which are all made with rice flour and eaten with red and white curries.
- Coconut sambal, sweet chutneys, pickles and papadams are eaten as accompaniments.
- The chutneys are always good to have at hand to cool off the chillies.
- Lamprais (rice and curries wrapped in a banana leaf), is a favorite prepared by the burgher community.
- Traditional deserts include watalappan (made with coconut milk and palm juggery), buffalo curd and honey, and a range of sweets such as Kavun, kokis, aluwa, paniwalalu which is made for special occasions.
- Sri Lankan short eats – a range of savory and sweet pastries is a favorite snack at any time of day.
- Sri Lanka’s hill-country is the ideal environment to grow the most flavorsome tea. Ceylon Tea is world famous for its high quality and has remained a major contributor to the island’s economy for generations. Currently, Sri Lanka is one of largest exporter of tea worldwide
We have assembled the top ten tasty and exotic Sri Lankan food in this article which you cannot miss to afford while you travel Sri-lanka.
Sweet and sour fish curry
This fish is deep fried and choked in a lovely sweet and sour sauce and lightly fried again with red onions and banana peppers. It is excellent with fried rice and a flatbread Parantha on the side.
Dal curry
The dal lentils are cooked with coconut milk in Sri Lanka and made into a rich lather that acts almost like gravy for rice.
Mallum or Mallung – Gotukola Sambol
The leafy green salad is made with finely chopped gotukola, worn coconut meat, red onions, and a few spices for flavoring.
Beatroot curry
Beats are diced up and cooked strongly with a number of spices including cinnamon and curry leaves.
Vegetarian kottu
It is composed of worn pieces of Sri Lankan parantha bread that are stir fried with an range of spices and other meaty or vegetarian ingredients.
Brinjal eggplant
The eggplant is cooked heavily with salt, oil, soy sauce, and sugar until it becomes fall apart and the sugar begins to melt.
Squid curry
This Jaffna squid was chopped into small pieces before being fried with peppers, onions, and a spiced tomato based sauce. It is wonderful along with rice and curry and a few parathas.
Pol sambola
It’s merely a mixture of shredded coconut, chili powder, lime juice, red onions and salt – but every bite is like a miracle come true.
Pittu
Sri Lankan Pittu funnel cakes are a combination of flour or rice, fresh shredded coconut, and a handful of dried coconut. The precious little cakes are traditionally steamed in bamboo, but now are sometimes steamed in circular metal tubes. After being cooked; the crumbly textured pittu cakes are served with fresh sweetened coconut milk.
Fish and vegetable roti
The triangular looking pockets are a form of roti filled with a range of different ingredients. Fish is the preferred filling, but there are also some nice vegetarian versions available. Instead of being deep fried like samosas, triangle roti’s are just skillet fried.