Sri Lanka Gastronomy
A traveller setting foot on the shores of Sri Lanka will not only be enchanted by the diversity of the country's cultural heritage, but equally by its cuisine. Sri Lanka cuisine embodies the fiery heat of sun-struck beaches, the refreshing coolness of tropical rainforests and piquant flavours of regional specialties. The heart of a country's individuality is in its cuisine, which is why we connect pasta with Italy and sukiyaki with Japan.
The staple food of Sri Lanka is rice. This is boiled or steamed and served with a host of curries. Curries in Sri Lanka are not confined to a curried meat or a fish platter, but include vegetables and pulses as well. A typical Sri Lankan meal would consist of a "main curry" which could be fish, beef, chicken or mutton, as well as several other curries made with vegetable and lentils. Side-dishes would include pickles, chutneys and "samblos" which are fiery hot and made of ground coconut, or onions mixed with chillies, dried Maldives fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and relished with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
A word of caution to the uninitiated: "sambols" are fiendishly hot and could leave you with a red face, burning tongue and streaming eyes. To counteract these scorching temptations there are the white curries - which are mild and subtle in flavour - and another delightful delicacy called " mallung". This is a dish of finely shredded leaves mixed with coconut (which has been grated), chopped red onions and a dash of lime juice and lightly cooked on gentle heat. There are a variety of leaves which are used to prepare a "mallung", and each has its own distinctive flavour.
Coconut milk is a common ingredient in all curries, whether hot or mild. The combination of hot and mild dishes, subtle and spicy delicacies and cool refreshing accompaniments, creates a perfect balance in the meal, making it enjoyable and memorable.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. In the 15th and 16the centuries, traders from all over the world came in search of fragrant and aromatic cardamoms, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Some of these traders settled on the island, and the recipes of their countries were introduced to Sri Lanka, resulting in a delightful bland that gives richness and diversity to indigenous cooking. Sri Lankans use spices liberally in their dishes and this is what gives the dishes the exuberance and the aroma they are known for. There are no fixed measures. A typical Sri Lankan cook would "throw in a pinch of this and that", and a handful of other things according to personal preference. This is why a curry, prepared by two different people, using the same ingredients, never tastes the same. The secret is in the personal touch.
These differences are not only apparent in an individual's cooking, but in regional cooking too. A fish curry cooked on the east coast of the island would taste completely different from one originating from the south, although both would be equally delicious!
The cuisine of Sri Lanka's hill country differs from that of the coastal areas. The Dutch and the Portuguese too have left their stamp on the local cuisine - for example, delectable dishes like Lamprais - rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by "Frikkadels", or meatballs, all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked. This is an original Dutch recipe enjoyed by Sri Lankans today. It has of course been adapted to suit the Sri Lankan palate. The Dutch and the Portuguese also bequeathed a number of recipes for various sweets which continue to be made to this day. There are British and Malay influences as well. Roast beef and roast chicken are enjoyed by many Sri Lankans and "Wattalapam" - a steamed pudding made with coconut milk, eggs and jaggery (a sort of solidified treacle extracted from the kitul palm) has become a Sri Lankan dessert, although first introduced by the Malays.
Sweets are popular among most Sri Lankans, although there is a bid to cut down on them by the younger generation, who like their counterparts, are health-conscious. The best known of the sweets is, perhaps, "Kavun". It is a delicious type of oil cake, made with rice flour and treacle and deep-fried to a golden brown. There is another variety of "Kavun", called "Moong Kavun", which is made from green gram - a type of pulse - which is then ground to a paste and shaped like diamonds before frying. This is equally enjoyable.
"Kiribath" (rice boiled in milk) is served at all auspicious occasions like weddings and birthdays or even events like the opening of a store. It is also a must at New Year celebrations. As Sri Lanka is an island, it has an abundant supply of seafood of all types. There are prawns, crabs and lobsters, and a variety of fish including seer, tuna and mullet. There is also the delectable cuttlefish which is a firm favourite, prepared in myriad ways. Pickled fish and dried fish are delicacies worth a try. They have a pungent and piquant flavour. It sometimes takes a little time to get used to their heady aromas and taste.
There is a perennial supply of fruits and vegetables which the traveler will enjoy: succulent mangoes and mangosteens, pineapples, papayas and a whole variety of bananas or "plantains" as they are called. Prickly brown durians are also sold at many wayside spots. Many people find their odour very offensive, but those who are brave enough to actually taste the fruit, declare it to be rich, creamy and absolutely delicious. It is in fact called the "Honeymoon" fruit in South-East Asia because of its supposedly aphrodisiac properties!
A traveller to Sri Lanka must, of course, drink some Sri Lanka tea. Grown at altitudes as high as 6,000 feet above sea level, the tea plantations thrive because of the crisp, cool air distilled through so many hundred feet. The flavour of tea differs according to the area or region where it is grown and the altitude, but each tea has its own unique character and bouquet. The high-grown teas are considered the best, but even the low-grown green teas have their special appeal. Iced tea is the great thirst quencher and teas flavoured with fruits, spices and ginger are available. While tea thrives in the exalted climes of the hill country, there are other thirst quenchers to be found in less-elevated parts. One such drink is that of the King Coconut, or "thambili" as it is called Sri Lanka. This is a popular wayside drink and can be taken in the heat of the day. No need to pour the drink into a glass. You can sip it straight from the fruit through a straw. It is said to be rich saline and is a nutritious drink. You can enjoy a range of freshly-squeezed fruit juices like papaya, pineapple, orange and also pomegranate, a fruit greatly prized in the east because of its medicinal properties. Delicious drinks are also made from "sour-sap" which has a creamy sweet and sour taste and woodapple, a brown fruit which is delicious when prepared with coconut milk and jaggery.
Sri Lanka will entice you, not just with its extraordinary beaches, majestic hills and noble culture, but also with its food. Meals are special occasions in Sri Lanka, and to share a meal with a friend is a high point of hospitality: a chance to spend time together, exchanging friendly banter while tucking into a delicious meal. Even in the most humble homes, a visitor is always welcome, and invited to partake in a meal. To know the diversity and unique quality of the country's cuisine, you have to experience it for yourself - in Sri Lanka.
©2002 Sri Lanka Tourist Board
Hoppers (Appa)
Hoppers are unique to Sri Lanka which are usually consumed either for breakfast or lunch. A regular hopper is similar to a bowl shaped pancake which is crisp at the other edges.
Hoppers (appa) are made from a fermented batter of rice flour, coconut milk and a dash of palm toddy. The batter of rice flour and coconut milk traditionally has toddy added for the typical sourish flavour and, more importantly, the fermentation which makes the centres full of little holes like crumpets. If toddy is not available, the same action is duplicated by using yeast, either fresh or dry. After leaving to rise, the batter is swirled in a hemispherical pan, rather like a small, more acutely curved wok. Even without the traditional hopper-pan, it is possible to enjoy the unique texture and flavour using a small omelette pan.
A hopper, crisp on the outside, yet soft and spongy in the centre, is best eaten with curries and sambols while still streaming hot. There are many types of hoppers: plain hoppers, egg hoppers, milk milk hoppers, and sweeter varieties like vanduappa and paniappa.
Egg hoppers are made of the usual hopper where an egg is poached into its centre. Milk hoppers and honey hoppers too are delicacies enjoyed by both locals and foreigners.
Makes about 20
15 g/1/2 oz fresh compressed yeast
or 1 teaspoon dried yeast
125 ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
185 g/6 oz/1 1/2 cups medium-coarse ground rice
185 g/6 oz/1 1/2 cups fine rice flour
or plain (all-purpose) white flour
2 teaspoons salt
400 ml/14 fl oz can coconut milk
500 ml/1 pint/2 cups water
Sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir to dissolve, add sugar and leave for 10 minutes or so. If yeast starts to froth it is active and you can proceed with the recipe. If it has no reaction, start again with a fresh batch of yeast. Put ground rice, rice flour and salt into a large bowl. Combine 300 ml (10 fl oz canned coconut milk with measured water and add yeast mixture. Stir into dry ingredients to form a smooth, thick batter. Allow to stand overnight, or put in a warm (turned off) oven for 1 hour until the mixture rises and froths.
The batter should be of a thick pouring consistency, but thin enough to cover the sides of the pan with an almost transparent coating when the batter is swirled. It will probably be necessary to add extra water. A little practice will tell you when you have achieved the perfect consistency, and so much depends on the absorbency of the flour (which is variable) that it is not possible to give an accurate measurement.
Heat the pan over low heat until very hot, rub the inside surface with a piece of folded paper towels dipped in oil, or spray with one of the light oil or non-stick lecithin-based sprays and pour in a small ladle of the batter. Immediately pick up the pan by both handles, using potholders, and swirl it around so that the batter coats the pan for two-thirds of the way up. Cover pan (any saucepan cover that fits just inside the top edge will do) and cook on very low heat for about 5 minutes. Lift lid and peep. When the upper edges begin to turn a pale toasty colour, the hopper is ready. Where the batter has run down the sides to the centre there will be a little circle of spongy mixture, rather like a crumpet, while the curved edge is very thin, crisp and wafer-like. With a curved slotted utensil or flexible metal spatula, loosen edges and slip the hopper from the pan on to a wire rack. Wipe pan again with oiled paper and repeat. Serve the hoppers warm, accompanied by a hot chilli, Maldive fish and onion sambal or any kind of meat, fish or chicken curry.
Note: The remaining undiluted coconut milk, with a pinch of salt and teaspoon of sugar added, is usually spooned into the centre of the last few hoppers which are made. This is a special treat, known as miti kiri appe or coconut cream hoppers and may be served with shavings of jaggery.
15 g/1/2 oz fresh compressed yeast
or 1 teaspoon dried yeast
125 ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
185 g/6 oz/1 1/2 cups medium-coarse ground rice
185 g/6 oz/1 1/2 cups fine rice flour
or plain (all-purpose) white flour
2 teaspoons salt
400 ml/14 fl oz can coconut milk
500 ml/1 pint/2 cups water
Sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir to dissolve, add sugar and leave for 10 minutes or so. If yeast starts to froth it is active and you can proceed with the recipe. If it has no reaction, start again with a fresh batch of yeast. Put ground rice, rice flour and salt into a large bowl. Combine 300 ml (10 fl oz canned coconut milk with measured water and add yeast mixture. Stir into dry ingredients to form a smooth, thick batter. Allow to stand overnight, or put in a warm (turned off) oven for 1 hour until the mixture rises and froths.
The batter should be of a thick pouring consistency, but thin enough to cover the sides of the pan with an almost transparent coating when the batter is swirled. It will probably be necessary to add extra water. A little practice will tell you when you have achieved the perfect consistency, and so much depends on the absorbency of the flour (which is variable) that it is not possible to give an accurate measurement.
Heat the pan over low heat until very hot, rub the inside surface with a piece of folded paper towels dipped in oil, or spray with one of the light oil or non-stick lecithin-based sprays and pour in a small ladle of the batter. Immediately pick up the pan by both handles, using potholders, and swirl it around so that the batter coats the pan for two-thirds of the way up. Cover pan (any saucepan cover that fits just inside the top edge will do) and cook on very low heat for about 5 minutes. Lift lid and peep. When the upper edges begin to turn a pale toasty colour, the hopper is ready. Where the batter has run down the sides to the centre there will be a little circle of spongy mixture, rather like a crumpet, while the curved edge is very thin, crisp and wafer-like. With a curved slotted utensil or flexible metal spatula, loosen edges and slip the hopper from the pan on to a wire rack. Wipe pan again with oiled paper and repeat. Serve the hoppers warm, accompanied by a hot chilli, Maldive fish and onion sambal or any kind of meat, fish or chicken curry.
Note: The remaining undiluted coconut milk, with a pinch of salt and teaspoon of sugar added, is usually spooned into the centre of the last few hoppers which are made. This is a special treat, known as miti kiri appe or coconut cream hoppers and may be served with shavings of jaggery.
Egg Hoppers
Have ready an egg broken into a cup. As soon as the batter has been swirled to coat the pan, gently slip the egg into the centre of the hopper. Cover and cook as in the Hopper recipe, and the egg will be done to perfection by the time the hopper is cooked. Serve with pepper and salt for grinding over the egg. This type of hopper is generally served with a knife and fork, and a plain hopper which can be rolled up and dipped into the egg.
Have ready an egg broken into a cup. As soon as the batter has been swirled to coat the pan, gently slip the egg into the centre of the hopper. Cover and cook as in the Hopper recipe, and the egg will be done to perfection by the time the hopper is cooked. Serve with pepper and salt for grinding over the egg. This type of hopper is generally served with a knife and fork, and a plain hopper which can be rolled up and dipped into the egg.
Rice & Curry is the main food of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans enjoy some of the spiciest foods in the world. Meat, fish and vegetables are prepared as curries. Sliced onions, green chilies, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron are used to add flavors. Today, rice and curry has shifted from being the popular breakfast to the essential lunch.
A basic rice and curry requires one fish (or beef or chicken) curry, two different vegetables, one portion of fried crispy stuff like papadam, a mallum of chopped leaves and coconut, and a gravy or "hodda" of spiced and cooked with coconut milk.
The rice is always put on to the plate first and then the curries are selected from the other dishes to mix with it so you have a collection of minor meals around the plate. You eat by mixing the rice with something forming it in to a bite-sized ball and consuming by hand.
There is vast range of flavors and different curry mixes used for different foods. There are regional differences too. even with the same base food the taste will completely be different.
Lamprais is a popular Dutch dish in Sri Lanka. Rice boiled in beef stock, then added to vegetables and meat and baked in a low oven after it is wrapped in a banana leaf. Baking the rice in a banana leaf gives a special flavour to the rice. Lamprais has a unique flavour and an appetizing aroma.
PITTU
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Main dish
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
250 g Rice flour
250 g Coconut
1/2 ts Salt
75 ml Hot water
180 ml Thick coconut milk
Roast and sieve the flour well. Grate the coconut.
Place the flour in a bowl and add the salt. Slowly
pour in the hot water, mixing with your fingers as you
do so until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the grated
coconut and mix well in. Place the mixture in the
pittu mould and place over a pan of boiling water
until steam emerges from the top of the pittu mould.
Cover with half a coconut shell and steam for a
further 5 minutes or until done.
Note: If a pittu mould is not available, mould dough
into loaf shape, wrap in muslin and steam for about
15 minutes.
Kiribath (milk rice) is a ceremonial specific and included in all special occasion menus. Kiribath is translated in to "milk rice". The rice is cooked in thick coconut cream for this un sweetened rice-pudding which is accompanied by a sharp chilli relish called "Lunumiris" or with a tackey coconut and treacle confection called "Panipol" - a sweet made with grated jaggery coconut and touch of vanilla.
 |
| Another popular breakfast dish is a rice preparation known as indi-appa or string hoppers. These are small spaghetti-like strings of rice-flour dough squeezed through a sieve onto small woven trays, which are steamed one atop the other. Light and lacy, string hoppers make a mouthwatering meal with curry and sambol. |
Being a tropical country Sri Lanka is blessed with a huge variety of fruit. Some like bananas, known as plantain, and mangoes come in a huge number of varieties, shapes and sizes. Fruits such as rambutan, pineapple, papaya, melon, passion fruit and guavas are just a small sample.
In Sri Lanka, where the word plantain is often used interchangeably with banana, this fruit is a general favourite, served to complete any meal. Bananas come in many sizes, and can be
green, yellow or even red in colour. Some of the most popular varieties are: embul - small, yellow when ripe: sweet and sticky kolikuttu - yellow when ripe: sweet and starchy anamalu - long, bright green when ripe: slightly floury seeni kehel - small, yellow when ripe: very sweet rath kehel - thick, red when ripe: very fleshyKottu rotti  Kottu roti is a filling snack found at street side eating houses. This elasticated doughy pancake is chopped into shreads and stir fried with vegetables, onions, egg and beef or chicken. |  |  Mallung: is a Sinhalese word which means 'mix-up' and is usually applied to the leafy green preparations with everything chopped finely and mixed over heat. This dish is an accompaniment to rice, and is always without a sauce - the liquid that comes out of the leaves or other ingredients is evaporated. A traditional blend of spices used to flavour green leafy vegetables, producing a light, fresh accompaniment to all Sri Lankan dishes. |
 | | The passion fruit takes its name from the flower symbolic of Christ's Passion. Passion fruit are round, slightly oval fruit 5-8cm in length that grow on long, trailing vines. They are purple or yellow in color . and have a smooth, thin skin that wrinkles as the fruit loses moisture - a normal process which doesn't affect their flavor. Their juicy flesh is orange and contains several soft, edible seeds. Passion fruit have a bittersweet flavor and pungent aroma. |
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| The durian is probably the most notorious of tropical fruits due to its unpleasant odour. The fruit, which is round to ovoid and covered with sharp spines, has a white, custard-like pulp regarded as an aphrodisiac. You either love it and consider the fruit delicious, or you loathe it without eating it, unable to surmount the olfactory barrier. For the uninitiated, its best to try it creamed as fresh fruit custard | Woodapple is a wooden-shelled fruit (a favourite with elephants) that is so hard a hammer has to be used to break it. The truffle-like pulp within has a pungent smell, but it has an agreeable slightly sweet-sour taste. The pulp is eaten with salt, although the most popular preparation is a drink called diwal kiri made with the pulp, treacle and coconut milk. A fruit cream made with the pulp and condensed milk is also popular, as is woodapple jam. |
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