Food in Sri Lanka: rice and curry

Rice and curry remains the culinary king on Sri Lanka's food scene – but with fiercer flavours than in neighbouring India, and with sauces based on coconut milk and fiery chilli sambols.

A cuisine based on rice

Sri Lankan cooking has evolved around rice. The national meal is not referred to as “curry” but as “rice and curry”: a mountainous plate of rice generally accompanied by assorted meat and/or vegetable curries, various pickles, sambols, and a handful of tiny poppadums.

More than 15 varieties of rice are grown on the island, from tiny white translucent varieties to long-grained basmati and the nutty red kakuluhaal. Locals will take balls of cooked rice and rub the highly spiced accompaniments into them, massaging the mixture gently between the fingers to blend the flavours.

Curry fit for a king

The rice and curries served in the island’s better hotels, guesthouses and restaurants, however, have evolved far beyond this basic formula and often comprise a sumptuous miniature banquet, with a plateful of rice accompanied by at least five, and sometimes as many as 15, side dishes. These typically feature a culinary compendium of contrasting textures and flavours, from highly spiced meat and fish curries to gently flavoured dishes of pineapple, sweet potato or aubergine, plus servings of unusual local vegetables – anything from drumsticks (murunga, a bit like okra), ash plantain or jak fruit to other, more arcane regional foodstuffs – as well as the classic mallung (shredded green vegetables cooked with grated coconut and turmeric). You’ll also be given a bowl of dhal, some crispy little poppadums and at least one or two dishes of sambol.

Spicy sambols

No rice and curry is complete without a few accompanying sambols, the Sri Lankan version of the Indian pickle, used to add an extra dash of flavour (and heat) to the dishes on offer. The standard ingredient in Sri Lankan sambols is chilli, either freshly chopped or powdered. As a result, many sambols can be fiery hot, so approach with caution and always do a taste test on a tiny amount before ladling spoonfuls all over your meal. In the event of over-heating, a mouthful of rice cools the mouth far more quickly than water.

The simplest sambol, lunu miris (salted chilli), contains chilli powder, onions, Maldive fish (a salty, intensely flavoured sun-dried tuna) and salt. Add fine white grated coconut to this and you get the classic pol sambol. More gentle is the sweet-and-sour seeni sambol (sugar sambol).

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