Why Sri Lankan Food is Ranked #1?

Sri Lanka has always been a colourful and multicultural Island, and with all that comes a variety of delectable cuisines enjoyed by all races residing within the country.  Sri Lankan Cuisines is a must try when visiting Sri Lanka, our beautiful beaches, and exotic wildlife is not the only attractive quality when visiting Sri Lanka on holiday.  The history of the invasion of the Dutch, Portuguese and British, has also had a somewhat trivial influence on the dishes prepared here in Sri Lanka.  You will of course be familiar with the traditional meal in Sri Lanka which is a decent rice and curry topped off with a variety of vegetables to add more flavour to the dish.

Sri Lanka, being an island with a tropical climate, coconuts and fish are two of the most influential components of Sri Lankan cuisine which are considered vital ingredients in cooking regular and complex Sri Lankan dishes.

Sri Lankan food includes a lot of vegan options thanks to the use of coconut oil and coconut milk. Following a vegetarian or vegan diet is easy on the island given the abundance of vegetables available however, one must keep in mind that Maldive fish is used as a flavour enhancer in most curries, so always enquire before consuming. If you are on a gluten-free diet, this shouldn’t be a problem. Not only is rice the most popular choice of carbs, but rice flour is actively used in baking and making sweets.

Hoppers, are one of the most famous meals that Sri Lankans love to indulge in.  It is made of wheat or rice flour; It is shaped like a bowl with a soft center and very thin crispy edges, and is of South Indian influence. There are different varieties you when you’re exploring Sri Lanka, and they are they are found across the island. Most roadside shops start making the hoppers roughly after 5 p.m. Plain hoppers, egg hoppers, milk hoppers, honey hoppers and string hoppers are the five types of hoppers that exist in Sri Lanka.

Another popular option is Kottu Rotti, almost paper-thin, stretchy, oily pancakes. These thin pancakes are cut into pieces and mixed with vegetables, meat, and spices on a grill. Usually the cooks use two metal blades to cut and mix Kottu Rotti. The sound of the blades hitting the grill is one that you will recognize wherever you may travel in Sri Lanka. Follow the clanging of metal blades anywhere in the country to you’re your kottu rotti. It is a staple after a heavy night out for locals, just as you would grab a doner in England.

And lastly, having a cup of black tea in Sri Lanka is like going all the way to Paris and not trying a croissant. Unacceptable! It is recommended that you try a light black tea of high quality without any flavours to really enjoy the taste of pure tea. In Sri Lanka, dark black tea is mostly served with milk and sugar, unless you ask for plain tea. It is available at almost every cafe and restaurant. The all-time favourite tinkiri tea and yara tea also has it’s special and unique flavour which is similar to what you would find on the streets of Bangkok.

If you want to try all these special exotic dishes at once, every year there are several food festivals taking place within and out of Colombo. You can also try visiting the Good Market every Saturday to indulge in organic traditional Sri Lankan meals.

It’s interesting to know that Sri Lankan cuisine varies based on the resources available in each region. Kandy rice and curry sees a greater infusion of dried fish (karawala) as they did not have access to fresh fish as it’s the central highlands as such the dried fish is a staple in most families from the Kandy region.

Similarly, Jaffna and Batticaloa is known for its crab and prawn curry; however, both are unique. One is spicy, and the other is sweet in character. Galle cuisine shows the unique infusion of Arabic cooking style, while Negombo shows the influence of the Dutch and Portuguese influence with heavy meat items as daily staples with its characteristic pork dishes as well. Further, a typical village meal predominantly embodies fried lake fish, red rice, one curry, a green leaf salad and a coconut sambol. A farmers or hunters meal would embody Cassava with Lunu Miris (a paste of dried Red chili pepper, red onions, Maldive fish, sea salt and lime juice which is usually ground with a mortar and pestle) with one curry or scrapped coconut.

The island’s location and its spices made it a popular trading port on the silk route for foreign traders who not only traded the country’s spices but influenced the islands’ culture and cuisine as well.

It is advised that one should not consume local cuisine within 48 hours in the destination, allowing your body to get acclimatized.

The Sri Lanka culinary tour is a unique experience which everyone who travels to Sri Lanka should engage in, the history, the colour, taste and the aroma of the food in a tropical island as beautiful as this, is not worth missing out on.  So, travel to Sri Lanka today, and get a first-hand unique experience right here on this beautiful island.