If you’re travelling to Sri Lanka and wondering what food you must try, my friend, I’ve got you covered. I’m Sri Lankan-born and raised, and a huge foodie. I now live in the US, and whenever I visit Sri Lanka, these are the must-haves on my list.
Being an Island, Sri Lankan food culture is incredibly diverse and unique. So this list can easily get out of hand. I’ll try my best to make it as structured as possible and narrow it down to the favorites.
BREAKFAST:
There are hundreds of different breakfast items in Sri Lanka, mostly savory but some sweet breakfasts, such as Lavariya, pancake are popular too. But I’ll focus more on the most popular breakfast items. Some of the breakfast items are commonly served for dinner as well.
Kiribath, Lunu Miris/Seeni sambol
Kiribath or milk rice is made with rice and a lot of coconut milk, served with citrousy and spicy lunu miris or spiced caramelized onion called seeni sambol. Very coconutty, creamy, and comforting. You can have it with kithul jaggery or treacle as well for a sweet breakfast. Also pairs well with fish or chicken curry.
Idiaappa, curries, and coconut sambol
We like to eat Idiaappa (string hoppers) for both breakfast and dinner. Pair idiappa with coconut milk-based curry (such as lentil curry, fish kiri hodi) and coconut sambol. This is one of my favorite comfort meals.
Shorteats
You can find them for breakfast, but they are also served throughout the day as daytime snacks as well. Short eats are referred to as Sri Lankan bakery items and other savory and sweet snacks. My favorites to order are, Egg rolls, Mutton rolls, Fish buns, and vegetable rotis (can be vegan). This is the first thing I eat when I land in Sri Lanka, and I always look forward to it.
Idli, Dosa, Vada, sambar and Coconut Chutney
I like to have idli, dosa, and vada for all three meals sometimes and they are mostly available in Tamil restaurants. If you want to get vegan/vegetarian food, this is a great choice.
LUNCH:
We Sri Lankans almost always eat rice for lunch. Except for a few specialty restaurants, most Sri Lankan restaurants offer rice-based meals.
Sri Lankan Rice and Curry meal
You’ll see a lot of curries, stir-fries, deep-fried stuff, and fresh salads in the restaurant menu. Please don’t just order one curry. That’s not how we Sri Lankans eat rice and curry. We almost always pair multiple dishes with rice; otherwise, it’s not balanced (both flavor and nutrition-wise). Check out my Instagram, you’ll see.
Start with a coconut milk-based mild curry such as red lentil curry (parippu), potato curry, or Ridge gourd curry. Then add some kind of protein, and most of the time these are spicy, tangy, and bold. You can go with Chicken Curry, Pork Curry, Crab Curry, Fish Curry, Fish Ambu Tiyal, Beef, or Jaffna Mutton Curry. The coconut milk-based curry helps to balance and mellow it out. Then add your vegetables. You can order any vegetable of your choice from Thai eggplant stir-fry, banana blossom stir-fry, beetroot curry, and the list is endless. Then order a Salad or Sambol for freshness. For example, Gotukola sambol, fried eggplant salad, carrot sambol, and bitter gourd salad. Don’t forget to add a papadum for crunch.
Buriyani (Sri Lankan style biryani)
This is different from Indian Biryani. Usually comes with rice cooked in spiced stock along with a piece of fried chicken, egg, yogurt salad, and mint sambol. You can also order a chicken or beef curry on the side.
Lamprais
Lamprais comes from Dutch Burgher influence and is a delicious meal that is made with rice cooked in meat stock, mixed meat curry, eggplant pahi (sweet pickled), Saani sambol, Prawn Blachang (a paste made out of dried prawns), Frikadelle (a beef meatball, breaded and fried), and Ashplantain curry. A delicious concoction that is wrapped in a banana leaf and baked. Get it from some place that makes it authentic for the best taste and experience cause even many Sri Lankans get this menu wrong.
Special Yellow Rice Menu
This is what we make when guests come over or when we need something special. Yellow Rice is very aromatic and delicious when done right. There are many Sri Lankan yellow rice manus. Here’s a menu I like: Yellow rice together with Cashew curry, Chicken curry, Eggplant moju or Fried eggplant curry, Green beans stir-fry, and fish cutlets.
Special Fried Rice Menu
Fried rice is popular for both Lunch and Dinner. You can order fried rice with devilled chicken, devilled shrimp, or any devilled dish. Vegetable chop suey and Chili paste.
DINNER
Kottu
The most popular Sri Lankan street food for dinner and a must-have when you are in Sri Lanka. Kottu is made with chopped up very thin flat bread (roti) mixed on a griddle with veggies, egg and meat curry. Served with more curry gravy on the side. You can find chicken kottu, beef kottu, egg and vegetable kottu, but some specialty restaurants do different versions as well. And honestly, they are all delicious, you can’t go wrong with kottu. My personal favorite is beef kottu.
Aappa/ Hoppers/ Egg Hoppers
Hoppers are very popular dinner option in Sri Lanka, and one of my favorite Sri Lankan foods of all time. Egg hoppers are probably my number one Must Try Food in Sri Lanka. You can find hoppers for breakfast as well in some restaurants. They are made with a fermented rice flour batter. They are usually served with a condiment called Lunu Miris (a chili onion citrousy paste, kinda like salsa). You can also order a side of chicken or fish curry to go with it.
Coconut Roti
I made coconut rotis a few times a month because this is my husband’s favorite. An unleavened flat bread made with flour and lots of grated fresh coconut mixed together. The flavor is nothing like any other flat bread you’ve ever had. Most commonly served with Lunu Miris. Amazing with chicken curry or Pork curry as well.
Crab Curry and Roast Paan
Don’t return from Sri Lanka without having crab curry. We Sri Lankans make amazing crab curry (as well as any other seafood) with the freshest ingredients possible, and you definitely need to try it. Make sure to get a roast paan (most popular Sri Lankan bread variety), and also Coconut Sambol is a must!
DRINKS, DESSERTS & SWEETS
Ceylon Tea & milk tea
Sri Lanka is one of the top tea exporters in the world, and Ceylon tea is popular for its great quality and taste. When you are in Sri Lanka, make sure to have a cup of Ceylon tea while soaking up its aroma. You can enjoy it while eating a piece of Kithul Jaggery as we locals do. If you don’t like plain tea, Sri Lankan milk tea is another popular beverage that most Sri Lankans are addicted to. We start the day with a mug full of milk tea (Do not confuse this with Indian Chai because Sri Lankan milk tea is not spiced)
Also, don’t forget to pack a few packs of Ceylon Tea before you leave.
King coconut water
In my opinion, this is the most refreshing natural beverage that has ever existed in the world. Just as the name suggests, this is much, much better than coconut water and definitely a hundred times better than those bottled coconut waters. Wherever you go, you’ll find street-side king coconut sellers everywhere. If you didn’t like the first king coconut you tried, try another one because the sweetness of the king coconut differs depending on how mature they are. The water turns sweeter as they mature. King coconuts are typically inexpensive, too.
Watalappam
Watalappam is one of the most popular desserts in the country, and Sri Lankan muslim community is popular for their amazing watalappam. It’s made of eggs, Kithul jaggery, coconut milk, and some ground aromatic spices. The sweetness of this dessert is very unique due to the spices and Kithul Jaggery. The texture is similar to a pudding, but the watalappan should have tiny holes that are filled with jaggery syrup. Be sure to try it from a reputed restaurant or a hotel because some of the commercial watalappan is unfortunately made with sugar instead of Kithul jaggery.
Curd and Kithul treacle
One of my favorite desserts as a Kid. Be sure to try with real Kithul treacle because many commercial Kithul syrups are mixed with sugar.
I can write a whole book about the food you should try when you visit. As I said earlier, Sri Lankan foods are very diverse. If you travel north to Jaffna, the food is very different from what you’ll find in the south. Head to the hill country, and again, the flavors and dishes change compared to the coastal areas.
I’m from Colombo (the capital), so naturally, my ‘Must have food in Sri Lanka’ list is biased towards where I grew up. But the good thing is Colombo is incredibly diverse, and you get to try different food from different regions and communities.
No matter where you’d go in this small island, I can promise you that you are in for something special. And the amazing hospitality from the Sri Lankan people would make the experience even better. Enjoy your travels and have fun!