Sri Lankan food is a treat for the senses. A heavenly combination of spices, freshness and traditional foods, the island’s cuisine will definitely leave an impression. Each dish tells much about the history, culture and blend of influences of the tropical haven.
In this guidebook, we uncover Sri Lanka’s most iconic dishes – peeling back the spice-scented food, Sri Lankan street food phenomenon and dishes that stood the test of time. We also uncover where to eat them and how you can and what their origins tell us about Sri Lanka’s history and society. Through this guide, you’ll discover what makes food in Sri Lanka different, as well as the best places to find Sri Lankan authentic food.
Kottu Roti: Sri Lanka’s beloved street food symphony
Kottu Roti is the most liked street food in Sri Lanka and both the tourists and the locals are crazy about it. Just think about this – a giant hotplate on a lorry, metallic-blade clinking sound and burnt food smell.
The vendors fling flatbread, vegetables, eggs and your preferred meat or cheese – all whirled around in a whirlpool before your very eyes. It is verging on the theatrical and, I promise you, we love it. Street food in Sri Lanka provides exotic visual, auditory and olfactory stimulation and a ride in itself.
Kottu is an experience and a half – more than just a dish, it’s reflective of the country’s fast food scene. You’ll find it on every other corner, especially in the more kinetic cities like Colombo or Kandy.
A famous Sri Lankan food that most typically is part of daily life in Sri Lanka, Kottu’s beginnings are quite rudimentary. Whether you want it spicy or milder, chicken or beef or vegetarian, it’s out there. The mix of different ingredients gives this Sri Lankan food kottu roti a unique flavour.
Hoppers (Appa): crispy-edged pancakes with a tender heart
Hoppers or “Appa” (how the name is so poetically, onomatopoeically influenced by the sound of a hopper steaming, you could say) are the classic Sri Lankan breakfast food. Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, they’re hard to resist. This classic rice flour pancake balances a light, airy texture with just the right amount of chew.
The easiest is the plain hopper with a hard edge and soft centre. But the tastiest of all is the egg hopper. In this type, an egg is cracked in the middle of the pancake while it is being cooked – runny hot yolk and hard edge is the result.
Hoppers throughout are accompanied by a range of accompaniments, the most common of which are sambols. Sri Lankans season these vegetarian dishes, usually with a mix of chilli, onion, and lime.. They offer a good contrast to the soft hoppers and complement them well without missing anything else. Hoppers may be served with curry if they are being served as a substitute for rice.
People traditionally eat hoppers for breakfast, but they enjoy them at any time of the day. Whether you have them as a snack or as part of a larger meal, you absolutely must taste a hopper during your time in Sri Lanka. They have a completely unique flavour and texture which you will not forget.
Lamprais: a Dutch-inspired rice feast wrapped in banana leaves
Lamprais is really a dish that encompasses the whole history of Sri Lanka. The Dutch Burgher community, during colonial rule, created this dish and left an indelible mark on the island’s food culture. Cooks wrap a full meal in a banana leaf, creating a delicious interplay of flavours and textures.
They cook the rice in bone stock, which gives the dish subtle depth and umami from long simmering.
On top of this, there is curried meat (usually beef or chicken – curry in this context simply means meat, cooked in any sort of sauce), sambols (see above) and frikkadels – Dutch-style meatballs.
Then, they place the ingredients in the banana leaf and let them simmer for several hours. This allows the various smells and tastes of the ingredients to blend together to create a filling meal where every bite is a mix of spices, tender flesh and taste of the banana leaf.
Lamprais is a dish, sure, but an experience too, one that speaks to us about the cross-pollinated influence which has helped to get us to the heights of Sri Lankan cuisine. If you wish to dine well and feel rich, in terms of history and flavour, then Lamprais is something you should try. It is comfort food in its most basic form – a mix of curry, meat and rice and all the TLC and love one bestows on a long-cooked dish.
Dhal Curry (Parippu): the comforting lentil staple
Dhal curry or Parippu is a rich, comforting curry from Sri Lanka that is popular among visitors and residents. The subtle flavour of lentils and the creamy texture will be a good pair with coconut milk.
It is a family dish in Sri Lankan culture and we share this dhal curry in every meal. We serve Sri Lankan food rice and curry with dhal curry most of the time as a side dish. The mild taste and creamy sides of them are perfect and fit to anything else also. You may dip a square of roti or bread, cover rice as a moist side or just eat dhal alone when in a dip mood. It calms the warmer pieces of baked curries.
Even if it is a side dish, dhal curry is a lovely dish for anyone and it can be eaten at any time of the day. It is a favourite of everyone due to its simplicity, cosy nature and warm texture which combines everything well. Dhal can be either a side dish or a star dish.
Gotu Kola Sambol: a refreshing herbal salad
Gotu Kola Sambol is cold and very cold and a healthy salad as well. Cooks combine chopped gotu kola leaves and coconut to create a healthy, refreshing dish. Gotu kola is healthy in so many ways and gotu kola is the raw material of the dish in large quantities. They add grated coconut, onion, and lime juice to complete it.
It gives a wonderful flavour burst to this dish. This salad will create a mild and delicious taste on your palate. Nevertheless, it inherits the other exciting ingredients too. It is a typical palate-cleansing salad. It is ideal when combined with distinctive spicy curries in Sri Lankan foods.
Eggplant Moju (Wambatu Moju): sweet and spicy pickled eggplant
Sweet. Sour. Spicy. Only a handful of words can aptly describe how concoctionally pleasing this pickled vegetable medley is. Eggplant Moju, tempered with cinnamon, cloves, mustard seeds and a friendly amount of vinegar, is the ideal pairing for a long list of Sri Lankan main dishes.
Basically translating to “moody eggplant” this dish features fried eggplant simmered in vinegar, sugar and spices, which ensures there is both a taste and texture someone will find interesting.
In terms of flavour, the heady-tangy notes and intense spices of Eggplant Moju cut through the unctuous richness and spicy heat of moisture and savoury dishes. Balance is brought by its sugar and vinegar quotient, with which it also seems to harmoniously partner.
For those who like a little adventure in their dishes, Eggplant Moju will certainly act as one of them. While it is not for the faint of palette, it is ideal for those on the other side of the spectrum. Here is an accompaniment that is perfectly acidic, sweet and savoury all at once and that is difficult to beat.
Egg Hoppers with Sambol: a breakfast delight
Somewhere in the middle of incredibly light and extraordinarily filling, there is the hopper. And to ensure the latter, an egg is thrown in the mix. Egg Hoppers provide the best of both soft and crisp with their foundation of a bowl-shaped pancake and a cracked egg in the middle of it – essentially producing the best of both worlds.
Surrounding edges are crispy goodness to chomp into, while some of it still might have a semblance of softness. Once everything hits the tongue, it’s really one complete textural experience: nooks and crannies of soft and the egg’s richness making everything more delicious.
Like regular hoppers, egg Hoppers are perfect with a number of other things on the side, such as the ferociously-flavoured Lunu Miris Sambol which consists of a sublime mix of onion, chiles and lime juice. Aside from adding a warm heat that nicely contrasts with a crepe-esque pancake and its egg,” this side sauce adds a crunchy texture that goes nicely alongside the soft areas.
While these hoppers are a breakfast favourite, they can also easily be consumed as a snack. Enjoy it for breakfast or enjoy it as a midafternoon snack, it’ll taste just as good when eaten throughout the day. Egg hoppers are really the best way to wake up (or to just enjoy) on the right side of the bed.
Wood Apple Juice: the island’s unique fruit beverage
The wood apple is a fruit that only grows in Sri Lanka. It has a very hard, shell-like outer shell that can be difficult to break open, but once you do the insides are gooey, tangy pulp that smells slightly sour.
The taste is refreshing and a bit sour but with the inclusion of the sprinkle of fresh coconut sugar grating and the inclusion of a splash of water, wood apple also is a highly thirst-quenching beverage for the tropics. Wood apple juice is very sweet and refreshing.
It’s the perfect pudding in which to indulge yourself after a day of strolling along crowded sidewalks or white shores of Sri Lanka. Wood apple pungency is countered by rich coconut milk and jaggery sweetness so you can enjoy the splendour of a perfectly blended flavour that won’t soon be forgotten.
Polos (Green Jackfruit Curry): a vegetarian treasure
Polos is green jackfruit curry and the most commonly ordered Sri Lankan veggie meat dish. Jackfruit is greatly preferred among Sri Lankans because it possesses a meaty flavour and a meaty texture and thus is the perfect material to utilise in the construction of an imitation veggie meat.
Watalappan: a spiced coconut custard dessert
You can’t leave the island without trying Watalappan, the perfect combination of cream and sweetness. The coconut spice custard pudding dessert is made with coconut milk, eggs, jaggery and lots of fresh spices like nutmeg cardamom and occasionally fennel. The traditional dessert is the perfect warm or cold dessert to enjoy after a day at the beach or hiking through the jungle characteristic of Sri Lanka.
Spice up your journey with the best of sri lankan cuisine
A culinary journey through Sri Lanka is more than just a taste of the food, it’s a peek into the island’s past, present and future. You’ll visit local markets to see Sri Lankan traditional food in its raw ingredients, you’ll learn some of the cooking techniques that form the base of these dishes and you’ll eat food in the way locals do.
You’ll experience local culinary customs and more importantly, you’ll taste Sri Lankan dishes in their most authentic form. Excited to explore the flavours of Sri Lanka? Join a group trip to Sri Lanka and experience a delicious Sri Lankan national dish adventure.
