Sri Lanka is a stunning country, and everyone with a love for exotic culture and nature will fall for this beautiful island. However, this article is not about the natural highlights, the friendly people, the culture, wildlife, or the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Sri Lanka – this article is about food. Yes, the authentic Sri Lankan home cooked food is one reason alone to travel to this amazing country. You can make it a foodie holiday. Just rent a private Sri Lanka villa near the beach or in the highlands and go find out what the Sri Lankan cuisine is all about. Here are 5 traditional dishes you must try out:
- Roti
We love our bread baked in the oven, but in Sri Lanka, bread or ‘roti’ as it’s called, gets a whole new meaning. Fried, stuffed, folded, flat, soft and crispy – bread comes in all sorts of forms in Sri Lanka. There are even ‘Tuk Tuk Bakeries’ selling roti as a daytime snack, but it also comes along with curry and rice for a hearty lunch and a filling dinner. The taste of freshly-made Sri Lankan roti is something you will most certainly miss once you have left the island.
- Hoppers and String Hoppers
A hopper is a bowl-shaped pancake made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk. It is eaten with curry and sambal. It may come as a surprise to you, but the hoppers are a common breakfast dish. And yes, the sambal is spicy. Hoppers are thin and crispy and having one of these for breakfast is not something everyone can handle but do make sure to get a taste of the Sri Lankan hopper at least once – maybe for brunch?! Another version of this local breakfast is the ‘string hopper’ where the pancake is pressed into a noodle shape.
- Lamprias
This Sri Lankan snack was invented during the colonial era by the Dutch, and it is infused with local Sri Lankan spices such as cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. The main ingredients of Lamprias are eggs, eggplant, frikandel meatballs, rice and sambal. All of this is pressed together and wrapped up in a banana leaf to be baked in the oven at a low temperature for a couple of hours. The result? It is delicious and a must-try. Lamprais is also made with soya beans instead of meat for the vegetarians among us.
- Wood Apple Juice
This is a local drink you can find on any local market at the special wood apple stalls. It’s not apple juice the way we know it for. It is made from a different kind of apple: one with a hard shell and a brown paste inside. The taste of wood apple can best be described as a mix of tamarind and fermented raisins. It’s not only delicious but also healthy – go get some!
- Saravita
This is a local sweet treat made from grated coconut. Coloured brightly and sweetly in pink, orange, white and green – the Saravita will catch your eye when strolling around markets. The sweets are packaged in a banana leaf and easy to find at street stalls everywhere on the island. If you like coconut, you’ll love it!
Written by Stephanie from Villa-Finder.com
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