Indigenous and traditional foods of Sri Lanka enjoy a long and colourful history and unique traditions developed since ancient times. There is a deep mystery here. Closely intertwined with traditional Ayurvedic medicine, botany, and the abundance of tropical delights, the food of Sri Lanka is one of the most diverse experiences to be had.
It is impossible to separate the therapeutic reasoning of food ingredients and preparation from what we understand as modern culinary expression, with an ancient knowledge of flora and fauna, human health and of course incredible spices and abundant fresh fruit.
It would be easy to think that Sri Lankan food and Indian food are one and the same thing. In terms of spices, this is true to a point, especially the similarities with South Indian food which has a similar complexity. One key difference is that Sri Lankan’s tend to blend all of their spice mixes to a very fine powder, whereas many traditional blends on the sub-continent involve the use of whole or partly crushed spices, which also require quite different preparation methods.
When travelling in Sri Lanka a few years ago, Spiceman fell in love with many of these traditions and the local street food. Much of the food here is very similar to southern Indian, but with a few key differences of note, primarily that with most curry preparations, Sri Lankans tend to rind all spices to a fine powder and after roast darkly before cooking. Many south Indian dishes prefer spice blends to incorporate the use of whole spices. So, let’s talk about some of the best finds.
Far and away the best thing I ate in Sri Lanka was a simple dish found on just about every street corner and vendor stall – Buffalo curd with treacle. Sounds quiet underwhelming, but this little snack is set like a yoghurt in a clay dish and served with a small tub of local kithul treacle made from unrefined jaggery. Best eaten chilled, the curd has a slightly tangy, slightly sour taste and makes a wonderful breakfast. Utterly delicious. Spiceman loved eating this creamy snack with small bananas and fresh pineapple to start the day.
Curry. Yep, breakfast, lunch and dinner. The mainstays and heart of all Sri Lankan cuisine are fish, rice and spices. There is an endless variety of curries across the island, but it is fair to say these mainstays feature in most of them. Local curries do vary and evert family will have their own unique method of preparation, usually made with a few of the other staples such as coconut, fish, roti, dahls and pickles.
One of the better curries that Spiceman enjoyed was an incredibly rich and quite oily curry of local fish served with roti, rice and jackfruit. The spices were quite high on the palate and, well, quite unapologetically spicy!
A common side dish that is often used are string hoppers. Hoppers are used to scoop up the curry with your fingers and made with either fine or course rice flour and coconut milk made into a pancake-like consistency, poured into a special pan in a ‘web’ or ‘net’, steamed and eaten fresh. A variant of this is the iconic egg hopper which is a thinner batter and cooked in a type of small wok, slightly crispy and usually served with a whole egg cooked in the same pan.
Another of Spiceman’s favourite street snacks was found at a small street stall on the roadside stall near Moratuwa University, just south of the capital, Colombo. This is as simple and yummy as it gets. A small tightly wrapped parcel of steamed rice mixed with a little coconut oil, chicken and typical spices and some variety of green vegetable (probably spinach and curry leaf). The spices were very fragrant without being overly roasted, which I found overpowering in some other local dishes, and included cinnamon, pepper, chilli, coriander, cumin, fennel and clove (and probably many more I didn’t pick up, but likely, turmeric, anise, paprika, fenugreek and cardamom).
Pol sambol is a classical side that is very often an accompaniment to Sri Lankan meals. It is famous throughout the country and uses only a handful of ingredients available everywhere, but primarily fresh coconut. It is almost an ode to the flesh of the tree that nourishes millions of locals. It is essentially a mix of shredded coconut flesh, dried chilli, onion and lime juice. It can be quite hot, but also wonderfully refreshing and delightfully crunchy.
Sri Lanka has been part of the spice trade for thousands of years and had whilst it became an essential part of the global spice route, supplying traders along the famous Silk Road, it retains its cultural and culinary importance even today.
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