My Sri Lankan favorits

Sri Lankan food – one of the best we tried in all of Asia!

Sri Lanka is an oft overlooked destination culinary wise in Asia, perhaps over shadowed by its closest neighbour India, and the fondness in British hearts for this cuisine. However Sri Lanka offers a rich and diverse culinary experience for the traveler, shaped as it has by many historical and cultural factors. Its long history of trade with the Arabs, India and its European colonisers brought in many culinary influences. The island’s local traditions also play a very big part  in shaping Sri Lankan cuisine. Influences from India (particularly from its closest neighbour, Tamil Nadu), Indonesian and Dutch cuisines are most evident with Sri Lankan cuisine and of course the long history of the spice trade is integral to the rich flavours of Sri Lankan food.  These spices (from Cinnamon (which originated in Sri Lanka), chili (brought to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese), cloves, pepper, cardamom, turmeric and nutmeg form the basis of all of Sri Lanka’s curry dishes. You’ll also find that coconut is also an integral ingredient in many Sri Lankan dishes, due to the abundance of this crop.

Here are, in our opinion, some of the not to be missed dishes to sample while in Sri Lanka:

Rice and Curry

Enjoying the variety of a Sri Lankan rice and curry meal is a must do on your travels

There is no one dish called rice and curry in Sri Lanka, in fact when you sit for a typical Sri Lankan meal you will be served a selection of “curries”along with rice and some papad and pickle. Dishes range from chicken curry, prawn curry if you are by the coast, polos (jack fruit) curry, brinjal (aubergine) curry, pineapple curry (one of our personal favourites) and amba (mango) curry. The sheer diversity and flavours of the Sri Lankan curry means that for every day of the week you could be sampling something new. Be wary of the chili content – locals like their food HOT!

Egg Hoppers

Sri Lanka’s most popular street side snack – the egg hopper

Hoppers are Sri Lanka’s answer to pancakes, made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk, they are traditionally served as a breakfast dish, but now you can see them being sold at roadside shacks as a post-work snack for commuters who are peckish. Cooked in a small bowl shaped pan, the best hoppers are served with an egg cracked and cooked in the middle of the bowl shaped pancake. Best eaten with lunu miris, a spicy sambol made from onions, red chilies, lime juice and salt, they are the absolute perfect Sri Lankan snack food.

Kottu

Kottu roti is made with a type of flatbread called “Godhambara roti” or “Godamba roti” (which is also called roti canai, which originates from Malaysia, or the flakier cousin – paratha, from India), that is shredded and then mixed with vegetables, meat and eggs (or not, for a vegetarian or vegan option) and aromatic spices and sauces. The whole mix is then chopped and mixed together on a large flat griddle with two large steel chopping blades, which produces that characteristic sound and the theatrics of making kottu roti. A lot of street vendors will also have their very own beat and rhythm when using those blades, which make for a very tasty as well entertaining dish! It’s the Sri Lankan version of “dubstep teppanyaki”! 

While Chicken Kottu Roti (or Chicken Koththu Roti) is my absolute favorite (and probably most popular), there are different versions of this kottu that you can make. So you can adapt this recipe for Curried Chicken Kottu to also make any of the following.

• Roast Chicken Kottu roti (same as the curried chicken kottu, but without the curry and made with roast chicken instead)

1. Vegetarian Kottu roti (or vegetable kottu)
2. Egg Kottu roti
3. Cheese Kottu roti
4. Chicken and Cheese Kottu roti
5. Beef Kottu roti