Best Food to Try in Sri Lanka

Perhaps the meal most associated with Sri Lanka. But there is no single recipe for “rice and curry”. A traditional meal can include rice accompanied by several different curries, sambols, mallung and other vegetable dishes.

Try: Chicken curry • Fish curry • Dhal curry • Jackfruit curry • Pol sambol

A hopper is a thin, bowl-shaped pancake made from a fermented rice-flour and coconut-milk batter. It can be served plain or with an egg cooked into the centre, and is commonly enjoyed with curries and sambols.

A popular combination: Egg hopper + lunu miris

If you hear the rhythmic clack-clack-clack of metal blades in Sri Lanka, there is a good chance someone is making kottu.

Pieces of godhamba roti are chopped together on a hot griddle with vegetables, egg, meat or cheese and spices. The sound of kottu being prepared has become part of the Sri Lankan street-food experience.

Try: Chicken kottu • Cheese kottu • Vegetable kottu

Crispy on the outside and soft inside, these little lentil fritters are a popular snack and street-food favourite.

They are often served with a spicy sambol and can be found at roadside stalls, markets and other local food outlets.

A distinctive Sri Lankan fish preparation made with pieces of fish, spices and goraka, which gives the dish its characteristic sour flavour.

It originated in southern Sri Lanka and is particularly associated with the cuisine of the south.

Simple, fiery and full of flavour.

Freshly grated coconut is mixed with chilli, onion, lime and seasoning. It is commonly served alongside rice, hoppers, roti and other Sri Lankan dishes.

Some of Sri Lanka's most popular foods can be found outside traditional restaurants — at small roadside stalls, markets, cafés and local bakeries.

Look out for: Isso vadai • Vadai • Samosas • Rolls • Vegetable roti • Short eats

“Short eats” are small savoury snacks commonly eaten with tea or as a quick bite.

They are widely available in bakeries, cafés, railway stations and local food shops.

Try: Fish rolls • Vegetable rolls • Cutlets • Patties • Vadai

A simple coconut flatbread made with flour and freshly grated coconut. It is often eaten with lunu miris, curry or coconut sambol.

It can be enjoyed as a breakfast, snack or evening meal.

A rich Sri Lankan dessert made with coconut milk, jaggery, eggs and spices such as cardamom.

Watalappam has strong Malay culinary influences and is particularly associated with Sri Lankan Muslim cuisine.

Sri Lanka's tropical fruit deserves its own place on the food list.

Depending on the season and region, visitors can find:

Mango • Rambutan • Mangosteen • Wood apple • Jackfruit • Pineapple • Papaya • Passion fruit • King coconut • Banana

For those unfamiliar with Sri Lankan fruit, local markets are a good place to discover varieties that may not be commonly found elsewhere.

Sri Lankan food is best experienced with a little curiosity.

Try a local breakfast. Visit a market. Stop at a small bakery. Look at what is being prepared at a roadside stall. Ask what is popular locally.

Some of the most memorable food experiences can come from trying something completely unfamiliar.

Ceylon Collection Notes Travel Guide