Sri Lankan food is not Indian food, and it is not mild. It has its own repertoire built on coconut, curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon and a chilli habit that takes a day or two to adjust to. It is one of the best reasons to come.
Rice and curry is not a dish, it is a spread
Order rice and curry and you will get a plate of rice surrounded by anywhere between three and twelve small dishes. A typical set might include dhal, a green such as gotukola or kankun, a pumpkin or jackfruit curry, a fried aubergine relish, a coconut sambol, a papadum and a fish or chicken curry.
You mix them yourself, a little at a time, with your right hand. Every one of them tastes different, and the point is the combination.
The best versions are in homes and small local places, not hotel buffets. If your driver suggests a roadside spot that looks unpromising, go in.
Hoppers, and why people get up early for them
Appa (hoppers) are bowl-shaped pancakes made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk, crisp at the edge and soft in the middle. An egg hopper has an egg cracked into the centre as it cooks.
Eaten at breakfast or late at night with lunu miris, a fierce onion and chilli relish. Finding a good hopper stand is a genuine highlight.
Idiyappam (string hoppers) are a different thing entirely — nests of steamed rice noodles, eaten with dhal and coconut sambol.
Kottu
You will hear kottu before you see it: the rhythmic metallic clatter of two blades chopping roti, vegetables, egg and meat together on a hot griddle. It is the sound of a Sri Lankan evening.
Filling, cheap, and best from a busy street stall rather than a restaurant.
Things worth going out of your way for
- Lamprais — a Dutch Burgher inheritance. Rice, meat, sambol and a fried egg baked inside a banana leaf.
- Pol sambol — grated coconut, chilli, lime, onion and maldive fish. It goes with everything.
- Curd and treacle — buffalo curd with kithul palm syrup. The best dessert on the island and it is not close.
- Wambatu moju — sweet and sour pickled aubergine.
- Jaffna crab curry — worth the drive north on its own.
- Kool — a seafood broth from the north, thickened with palmyra root.
Fruit
Try wood apple, rambutan, mangosteen and king coconut. King coconut, thambili, is sold from roadside stalls everywhere and is the best rehydration on the island.
Practical notes
- Spice level: ask for less if you want less. Nobody will be offended. Local hot is genuinely hot.
- Vegetarians do well here. Most curry spreads are vegetable-based by default, and Buddhist and Hindu traditions mean meat-free food is normal rather than a special request.
- Vegans should ask about maldive fish, a dried tuna flake used in sambols, which is easy to leave out.
- Water: drink bottled or filtered. Ice in established places is generally fine.
- Arrack is the local spirit, distilled from coconut flower sap. The aged versions are good with soda and lime.
One piece of advice
Eat the rice and curry at least once somewhere that does not have a menu in English. It will be the best meal of your trip, and it will cost less than a coffee at home.
