Sri Lankan food is flavoursome, healthy, and influenced by its proximity to India, its colonial past, and its access to lush, fertile farming lands and oceans.
Here are a few of our favourite dishes and delights to look out for:
- Rice and curry | The Sri Lankan staple – expect to eat it day and night
- Kottu Roti | It’s a round flatbread. You’ll hear this food long before you taste it, so ubiquitous is the metal clanging of the chopping utensils on the hot plates it’s cooked on. This is Sri Lanka’s most popular snack food, a mix of chopped godamba roti, vegetables, and spices cooked and chopped quickly on a hot plate and served at just about every local streetside eatery.
- Hoppers | These little pancake-like bowls are traditionally a breakfast dish, made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk. You can order them with or without an egg cooked in the middle, and they’re typically served with a yellow lentil dahl.
- String Hoppers | Similar to the hoppers, but made as a ‘noodle patty’, these are served with a mild curry sauce (kiri hodi) and a coconut sambol (chutney), again typically for breakfast (but we ate them all day long!)
- Vegetable roti | our go-to snack food! Little parcels of roti goodness, with lots of veggies inside.
- Wade | Listen out for the call of ‘wade (wah-deh) wade’, particularly on trains, which signals the presence of deep fried dhal cakes.
- Dhal | the staple comprising lentils cooked in spices and coconut milk.
- Brinjal (eggplant) curry | sweet, almost caramelised eggplant with spices.
- Jackfruit curry | tender baby jackfruit (with a meaty texture) mixed with spices.
Sri Lankan food is known for being relatively spicy, but restaurant cooks are used to travellers not being able to handle their level of heat! If you’re worried, just ask for little or no spice in your meal.
Just about every local establishment serves rice and curry, and these tasty meals should only set you back about Rs150 to Rs500. It’s the perfect option for those on a budget, as it’s delicious, super filling, and seriously cost-effective too.
Read: Basic food etiquette in Sri Lanka to remember
Sri Lanka Holiday Guru Tip
The best meals are in some of the most run-down looking eateries. Look for eateries packed with locals, and you’re in for a tastebud treat!
