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Sri Lankan Recipes

16 recipes

Sri Lankan cooking is built on rice, coconut and spices, and a typical meal is rice with several curries rather than a single main dish. Coconut appears as milk, grated flesh and oil, and it softens the heat of chili, curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and roasted curry powder. Fish is central along the coast, often cooked sour with goraka (a tart dried fruit) or tamarind. Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities each have their own habits, and Portuguese, Dutch and British rule left marks such as baked dishes, cakes and breads. Breakfast might be hoppers, string hoppers, pittu or milk rice, eaten with sambol and curry. Sambols, mallungs of finely chopped greens and sweet-sour pickles fill out the plate. Festive tables, especially at the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April, bring oil cakes, milk rice and sweets made with jaggery, treacle and coconut.

Staple ingredients

Breakfast

Main Dishes

Side Dishes

Breads

Desserts

Snacks

Sauces, Dips and Condiments

Common questions

What is Sri Lankan food known for?

Rice and curry, coconut sambol, hoppers, kottu roti and sweets made from treacle. Dishes are strongly spiced, with coconut, curry leaves and chili in most of them.

What is the national dish of Sri Lanka?

Rice and curry is the everyday national meal, with dhal, a fish or meat curry, a vegetable curry and sambol on the side. Kiribath (milk rice) is the dish tied to celebrations.

Is Sri Lankan food spicy?

Often. Chili is used generously, but coconut milk, plain rice and cooling sides such as mallung balance it. You can cut the chili in most recipes without losing the character of the dish.