5 Inexpensive Dishes You Should Try on Your Next Trip to Sri Lanka

Step out of your hotel in Dambulla and try to find a restaurant that serves Sri Lankan dishes. Some of the most popular and common culinary treats are:

1. Hoppers

Try a traditional Sri Lankan breakfast on your first day in the country and lookout for the nearest Kandalama resort or restaurant that sells hoppers. Hoppers are a variant of pancakes that come with a fluffy center and crispy border. They are made by fermenting rice flour in toddy or Sri Lankan palm wine, and frying the batter in a round cast iron pan. This dish takes a lot of time to make because it involves preparing a yeast mixture and leaving the dough to rise for 8 hours. Just like regular pancakes, you can customize your hoppers. One variety is the egg hopper, prepared by adding coconut milk and toddy to the batter before it is cooked. Hoppers can be served plain or garnished with fried egg in the middle.

2. Kottu

Kottu, a mix-and-match kind of meal, is another must-try dish when in Sri Lanka. This filling meal is made with a thin flatbread or roti. The roti is finely chopped, mixed, and fried with a combination of vegetables. Aside from vegetables, kottu can also be made with fish, chicken, mutton, and cheese.

3. Lampreis

Lampreis is a combination of rice and any or many kinds of Sri Lankan curry. First, the rice is cooked in stock and spiced with lemon grass, cinnamon, coconut milk, and peppercorns. The rice-and-curry combination is then wrapped and cooked in banana leaves.

4. Puttu

Satisfy your carving for coconuts with puttu, a traditional dish made by mixing grated coconut and rice flour in a bamboo mold. Soft, steamy, and crumbly, puttu is best eaten for breakfast, just like hoppers. The dish has an enticing aroma and is usually paired with fresh coconuts and meat curry.

5. Thosai

While the process involved in making a thosai is relatively simple, finding the right ingredients and can be a bit of a problem. Thosai is primarily made of fermented lentil. The batter is mixed with local spices, left overnight, and cooked in a hot girdle with very little oil. Just like other Sri Lankan dishes, you can personalize your freshly cooked thosai by adding your favorite garnish to it, such as coconut chutney.

Budget travelers can easily find cheap but delicious versions of these dishes in street stalls, but many reputable restaurants and hotels, like Dambulla’s AmayaLake, may offer these Sri Lankan treats in their menu.