Sri Lankan Food

Since Sri Lanka is a multi cultural country, you cannot expect anything less when it comes to Sri Lankan food. Our country is filled with its regional flavours while the cuisine is known for a rich combination of rice specialities, spices, herbs, seafood, seasonal vegetables and fruits and of course, legumes.

Culture plays a pivotal role in the food scene in Sri Lanka while many Sinhalese food items are derived from the chena cultivation. From the most celebrated and auspicious Sinhala and Hindu New Year to various day to day events and celebrations will see an array of traditional Sri Lankan meals ranging from milk rice, sweetmeats and spicy curries for accompaniments.

Many of these dishes are centred around the main staple rice, rice flour and coconut while seafood also plays quite an important part in Sri Lankan cuisine. Most Sri Lankans prefer vegetable curries while the main go-to meal in any part of the island is the good old “Rice and Curry”. The curries have immense flavour and colours which are derived from a list of Sri Lankan Hot Spices. These spices not only add great flavour to the food but also adds ayurvedic value to the dish.

Since Sri Lankan food is regionally diverse, you can expect the same dish prepared in various methods and with different flavours. For an example, the dishes from the South of Sri Lanka have a distinctive quality and is mainly amalgamated with seafood. “Ambulthiyal” is a unique spicy fish preparation that uses a thick gambooge (goraka) paste while the preparation in the South is different from the other parts of the island.

Hot and Spicy, tangy and sweet are the main flavours that you can explore whenever you are on a food trail in Sri Lanka.

Resources

• A Recipe Book of Traditional Sri Lankan Food
• Food Consumption Patterns in Sri Lanka
• Nutrition Transition and Traditional Food