If you’re a Sri Lankan and have migrated or you’re abroad for studies or work, these are the popular food in Sri Lanka you will crave the most:
Rice and Curry
The staple of Sri Lanka “Rice” takes over every local’s life. There is nothing like a banana leaf bath packet to satisfy your hunger during lunch. Even though rice tends to make people sleepy after lunch, it’s still a very popular and commonly eaten food in Sri Lanka. Rice is normally served with 3-4 vegetable curries and a meat dish and maybe some papdam or fried chillies if you’re lucky. But where ever you eat rice and curry from, it can never beat the standard and taste of your Achchi’s rice and curry.
Milk Rice a.k.a Kiribath
The breakfast dish, we often eat at special occasions and festivals. Milk Rice is often cooked for occasions such as birthdays, special exams and weddings, and festivals such as the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. This special dish is made with coconut milk and rice and has a sticky consistency. Milk rice is often paired with lunu miris, jaggery or banana.
Midnight Kottu
Kottu, a street food which is popular among all ages in Sri Lanka. It’s made of a thin rotti cut into pieces and mixed with vegetables, meat, egg and spicy curry. This dish is quite often craved after late night partying and it comes in different types such as cheese kottu.
String Hoppers and currently famous Appa (Hoppers)
String Hoppers is a dish which is made out of rice flour and is often accompanied with curries. String Hoppers can be classified into red and white. Also, kottu is often made with String hoppers. Appa, also known as hoppers, is quite different to string hoppers. It takes the form of a bowl and is crispy. Some hoppers are made with an egg in middle which are known as egg hoppers. There are hoppers with extra coconut milk in the middle, which are called kiri appa or milk hoppers. Hoppers are commonly accompanied with lunu miris or seeni sambal and curries.
Hot Butter Calamari (HBC) and “Sri Lankan-ized” Chinese cuisine
HBC is a popular dish with a certain taste which is available only in Sri Lanka. A dish where calamari is covered in batter, fried, and then tempered with spring onions, fried chillies and onions. A dish many Sri Lankan students studying abroad crave for. The popular Chinese food in Sri Lanka is not the authentic Chinese food. Sri Lanka caters many oily yet delicious food such as sweet and sour prawns, kankun devilled and fried rice. The commercialized Chinese cuisine has many outlets open in Colombo regardless of its extremely oily nature.
All kinds of Wadé
Wade, is a popular food served in restaurants and at Galle face. There are many types of wadé such as Dahl, Ulundhu and Keera. These wade are deep fried, snack sized, prepared different from each other and are available in many Indian restaurants. But a wade popular and commonly found only in Galle face, is isso wadé a.k.a wadés with a fried prawns on top.
Biriyani
A dish found frequently in Asia and commonly consumed in Sri Lanka, Biriyani is a dish prepared with many strong herbs and served with roasted meat, curries and an onion salad. Biriyani, found in many restaurants and street food shops in Sri Lanka, is so tasty that it can be consumed without any accompanying dishes.
All kids of Rotti
In Sri Lanka, the term rotti is home to many different types.
The first popular type is godambara rotti, which is a rotti made of wheat flour and accompanied most of the time by chicken curry, dhal curry and Pol Sambol.
The Second popular type is pol rotti, which is made out of wheat flour and mixed with green chillies and coconut flakes. It’s accompanied mostly by different curries, seeni sambol and lunu miris. With the emergence of health trends, we see a lot of households making all these types of rotti with more healthier alternatives such as kurakkan and atta flour.
Dosa
A perfect Indian dish which is popular in the island of Sri Lanka. It’s made out fermented batter which consists of black and rice gram. It often looks similar to crêpes and is served with sambar, stuffed potatoes and Chutney. Dosa has different varieties such as ghee, masala and paper.
Popular curries, , Pol Sambol and Lunu Miris
Sri Lanka could be labelled as the king of curries. You name a vegetable; we make a curry out of it. Regardless of the different varieties of curries, Sri Lankans hold a few types quite close to their heart. These masterpieces which were passed down generations are black chicken curry, dahl curry, potato curry, mutton curry, Jaffna crab curry and milk curry.
Pol sambol, a dish famous all around Sri Lanka, accompanies many types of local food dishes. Pol sambol is prepared mainly out of coconut flakes, chilli flakes, and various spices. This dish is quite often packed and taken abroad to indulge during cold winter days.
Lunu miris is a dish made with crushed chilli and onions. A common side dish for many main dishes as its spicy and tangy nature gives a great kick to the usual plain food types.
Let us know what your favourite food dishes are from the above list; if by any chance we have missed it, do let us know
