What is Sri Lankan Food?
Sri Lanka is an island country known for its exotic wildlife, plants, and foods. It is a popular destination for tourists looking to explore the culture and customs of this place. Sri Lanka is well known for the many colourful and unique dishes commonly prepared and eaten in this country, including a number of curries and rice-based recipes.
Why Should You Try Sri Lankan Food?
Sri Lankan food is not only unique and tasty but also extremely healthy. The food dishes include plenty of fruit, vegetables, seasoning and spices, rice, and pulses. Such a variety of ingredients offers an abundance of vitamins and nutrients, which are great for health. Sri Lankan food dishes also use some different types of meats, such as fish, which is rich in Omega 3. In addition, most Sri Lankan meals are well-balanced and contain a bit of everything. Below are 15 delicious Sri Lankan food recipes that are worth the try:
1.Young Jackfruit Curry, ‘Polos’
Young Jackfruit Curry, also called ‘Polos’, is a type of Sri Lankan curry dish which involves cutting an unripe jackfruit into chunks and simmering it in coconut milk. Onions, garlic, and a mixture of different spices are added, including curry leaves, mustard seed, and lemongrass. This exotic type of curry is something new to try rather than your typical curry made with meat. The Young Jackfruit Curry is served with rice or vegetables.
2.Spicy Lentil, ‘Parippu’
The Spicy Lentil, known by the Sri Lankan people as ‘Parippu’, is another tasty type of curry native to the country. Boiled red lentils are the main ingredients that are used in this Sri Lankan food dish. These lentils are cooked on coconut milk, with a few other ingredients such as onion, garlic, curry leaves, and spices.
3.Pennywort Salad, ‘Gotu Kola Sambol’
The Pennywort Salad is a salad garnish made by using a small green leafy vegetable called Asiatic Pennywort, also known as Gotu Kola. This vegetable is found in Southeast Asia and has a taste similar to kale. It is made into a salad by chopping it up finely and includes adding grated coconut, red onions, and seasoning to the recipe.
4.Lamprais
Lanprais is the name given to a Sri Lankan food dish recipe involving meat marinated in Sambal Chili Sauce. It is prepared by cooking rice with meat stock, then wrapping the meat and Sambal Chilli Sauce in a banana leaf, steaming it, and serving with the cooked rice. The banana leaf gives the dish its unique and distinct flavour. In some recipes, eggs might additionally be used.
5.Fried Salted Fish
The preparation of fried salted fish often involves salting and deep-frying fish on a pan or wok until golden brown and crunchy in texture. Often these fish will be served with vegetables, rice, or onion sambol, a type of chili sauce or paste which involves using onions.
6.Vegetable Kottu
Kottu is a very popular and well-known dish in Sri Lanka, available everywhere as mere street food. It is a delicious, flavorsome recipe that is made by deep-frying and then chopping up or shredding a type of flatbread known as the Godamba Roti. These pieces of the Godamba Roti are cooked with vegetables and a number of spices before being eaten with spicy curry sauce.
7.Egg Kottu
This type of Kottu is a different variation of the Vegetable Kottu, as it combines the shredded pieces of Godamba Roti with vegetables as well as eggs. The vegetables used in this dish are usually leek, onions, cabbage, mixed with egg to give it a distinct flavor.
8.Cheese Kottu
The Cheese Kottu is yet another type of Kottu commonly eaten in Sri Lanka. This time cheese is used for the dish, often a cottage cheese, but regular cheese such as cheddar can be used too. The cheese is melted over or mixed through the already cooked meal consisting of Godamba Roti and vegetables.
9.Beetroot Curry
Yet another type of curry, this recipe uses beetroot in the recipe for a delicious, rich, and unique taste. Beetroot is cut up into pieces and often cooked in coconut milk. Then it is savored with spices such as curry leaves and cinnamon. This Sri Lankan food is eaten usually with rice and vegetables.
10.Sri Lankan Egg Hoppers, ‘Appa’
Egg Hoppers, also known as ‘Appa’, are prepared by making a pancake batter which includes rice flour, coconut, milk, a little sugar, and sometimes Sri Lankan Palm Wine called ‘Toddy’. The batter is cooked evenly on oil in a rounded pan or wok to make it bowl-shaped, then an egg is added into the bowl-shaped pancake. Chillies, onions, lemon juice, and salt are added, along with a spicy sambal paste known as Lunu Miris. Then the final dish can be served with chutney or dhall curry.
11.Wood Apple
The Wood Apple is a type of fruit which is is found in Southeast Asia. It has a hard exterior shell which produces a funky smell, but is very commonly eaten in Sri Lanka and is used frequently in Sri Lanka food cuisine. This fruit is often eaten straight out of its shell, or combined with sugar or jaggery, and water, then made into a delicious smoothie.
12.Fish Ambul Thiyal
This particular Sri Lankan dish, which is basically sour fish curry, uses fish as its main ingredient, hence the name, and is incredibly easy to prepare. The fish is cut up into cubes and cooked with spices such as Goraka (also known as Garcina Cambodia), which gives it a sour taste. The fish is then simmered in water until most of the water is gone. Sometimes lime juice is also used in this recipe.
13.Wambatu Moju
Wambatu Moju is also called the Eggplant or Brinjals Pickle, as it involves cutting up an eggplant into wedge pieces and then deep frying them. Once crispy on the outside, the eggplant is carmelized with sugar, and combined with shallots, red onions, green chillies, mustard seeds, chilli powder, and turmeric powder. The eggplant and the other vegetables included in this recipe are pickled with vinegar. The resulting dish is both sweet and sour – due to the sugar and vinegar – and deliciously juicy to the taste.
14.Fish Curry And Rice
This particular type of Sri Lankan curry calls for using fish as a primary ingredient. It is a common and much loved recipe which is very easy to prepare. It uses spices such as Goraka, turmeric, curry leaves, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon grass, combined with vegetables such as garlic shallots, green chiles, and tomato. The Goraka gives the fish curry a sour taste. The final prepared dish is served with rice.
15.Kiribath
Kiribath is a traditional Sri Lankan food meal which is very simple to prepare but only made for special occasions. It is made primarily of rice cooked with coconut milk. Once it sets, this rice is then shaped into a pudding with a mould, or cut into slices and seasoned with Lunu Miris.
