Sri Lankan food

Rice and curry

The everyday meal across the island — a mound of rice served with several small curries (vegetable, lentil/dhal, and often fish or chicken), plus sambol and papadam on the side. No two versions are quite the same.

Hoppers (appa)

Bowl-shaped rice-flour pancakes, crisp at the edges and soft in the centre, often served with an egg cracked into the middle for breakfast.

Kottu roti

Chopped roti stir-fried with vegetables, egg and your choice of meat or seafood — best known for the rhythmic chopping sound made while it's cooked on the griddle.

Sambols

Coconut-based condiments like lunu miris and pol sambol add heat and texture to almost every meal.

Seafood on the coast

Grilled fish, prawns and crab are widely available along the coast, often prepared with local spice blends.

Ceylon tea

Grown in the hill country, Ceylon tea is usually served plain black, milky, or as "kiri te" (milk tea).