Sri Lankan food recipes, dishes and cuisine is of similar spiciness to South Indian cuisine. Many Sri Lankan dishes are amongst the world's hottest in terms of chili content. There is liberal use of hot chili varieties; amu miris, kochchi miris, and maalu miris. Many visitors to the country find the spiciness excessive. A lot of local restaurants offer low-spice versions of local foods to cater to foreign palates.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices and in the 15th and 16th centuries, traders from all over the world came to Sri Lanka, bringing their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques.
Sri Lankan meals are usually boiled or steamed rice served with curry. There is a main curry of fish, chicken, pork or mutton, plus several curries of vegetables, lentils and sometimes fruit.
Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and sambols, the most famous of which is coconut sambol. The recipe calls for ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. The mixture is ground into a paste and eaten with rice.
Another well-known Sri Lankan rice dish is kiribath, or milk rice. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavor.
Sri Lankan dishes make liberal use of spices and frequently do not follow an exact recipe… each cook's curry will taste slightly different. Added to that are regional variations, and people of different ethnic and religious groups will prepare dishes according to their customs.
Some recipes call for eggs or milk, so should be considered meat-less, not vegetarian Sri Lankan Rolls Spicy Potatoes Spinach with Lentils Curried Okra Curried Green Beans Bean Curry Pumpkin Curry Kirri Hodi Yellow Rice Bath Temperadu (Sri Lankan Fried Rice) Kadala Maluwa Wambatu (egg plant) Moju Tandori Cauliflower Brinjal and Dryfish Pahi Eggplant … Read more Sri Lankan Vegetable Dishes
Beef Curry Chicken Curry Eggplant Curry Yellow Fish Curry Fish Curry Pineapple Curry Sri Lankan Cutlets Tripe Curry Cashew Curry Leeks Mirisata Lentils Sri Lankan Style Lunu Miris Malu Abulthiyal Pepper Crab Fried Hot Shrimp Smoked Spicy Chicken Sri Lankan Red Chicken Beef Curry Ingredients 3 lb Stewing beef (cut into pieces) 3-4 tbs. Vinegar … Read more Sri Lankan Meat Dishes
Sri Lankan Caste System (Source: @ Library of Congress) When the Portuguese began to trade extensively with South Asia, they quickly noticed a fundamental difference between South Asian societies and those of other world areas. In India and Sri Lanka, societies are broken up into a large number of groups who do not intermarry, who … Read more Sri Lankan Caste System
Milk Rice Avocado Crazy Watalappam Sau Dodol Kiri Pani Sri Lankan Christmas Cake Love Cake Pudding of Dulya Sago Pudding Tea Cake Jaggery Cake Aluwa Bibikkan Mung Kavume Rulang Aluwa Masoor Paak Semolina and Jaggery Pudding Urunda (sweet coconut balls) Puhul Dosi (Pumpkin Preserve) Kulfi Aggala – Rasa Kavali Wellawahum (Coconut Stuffed Pancakes) Milk RiceImbul … Read more Sri Lankan Desserts
As we have already seen, rice occupied a very special place in traditional Sinhalese society. It was a community based on rice. Everyone from the king downwards had an interest in agriculture. Each one was a cultivator. Every villager owned a piece of land as well as a paddy field. Even the richest man in … Read more Ancient Food and Drinks of Sri Lanka
Classical Dances of Sri Lanka The origin of Sri Lankan dances goes back to immemorial times of aboriginal tribes and “yakkas” (devils). According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originate, 2500 years ago, from a magic ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king. An ancient chronicle, the Mahavamsa, states that when the culture hero Vijeya … Read more Classical Dances of Sri Lanka
Raw Curry Powder Roasted Curry Powder Seeni Sambol Cucumber Salad Lime Pickle Red Coconut Sambal Kattarikkai Sambal Katta Sambol (Chillie Sambol) Lunumiris (Chillie Onion Sambol) Chili Sauce Mallung Moaju Coconut Sambol Sinhalese Fragrant Masala Spice Powder Kehel Muwa Seeni Sambol Vegetarian Coconut Sambal (Pol Sambal) Fried Pol Sambol Raw Curry Powder Ingredients 2 tsps Coriander … Read more Sri Lankan Sauces
Classical Masks of Sri Lanka The Yakun Natima – devil dance ritual of Sri Lanka A MIDNIGHT ceremony. Crowds milling, bodies slick with sweat in the tropical night. Torches lining an earthen arena. A patient is dazed with illness, propped on a low seat. The rhythmic beat of drums. The smell of smoking resin. A … Read more Dancing Masks of Sri Lanka
Naming Conventions of Sri Lanka The Sinhalese community usually have two names. The first is called the “GE” (Sinhalese for House or Tribe, pronounced “gay”) Name while the second is the actual name of the individual. The “GE” name may indicate the place from which their family originated, the title or profession of the Head … Read more Names in Sri Lanka
Sacred Groves as Zones of Peace This initiative seeks to re-establish the traditional character of the ‘Kataragama’ initiation and pilgrimage by creating a sanctuary for the living tradition in the Okanda-Kudimbigala area, within the Yala East National Park, part of Deviyange Kaele or God’s Own Forest. Any geographical site, from a simple shrine or meditation room to a national park … Read more Zones of Peace