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| When in Sri Lanka, you eat what the Sri Lankans eat: rice and curry. Although Western influence has crept into the palate of the people in Colombo and the island’s other large towns, villagers in more remote areas still continue to eat the traditional three plates of rice a day – said to give them health, strength and energy. It is a popular belief that if you forego any of your daily portion, you will become weak and lethargic! |
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| On the whole, the food here, like that of so many other Southeast Asian countries, has absorbed much form its trader and conquerors. The island’s rich heritage of indigenous dishes has been enhanced by the Dutch, Portuguese, British, Malays, Arabs and south Indian, who passed through this beautiful country leaving behind their own recipes, spices, herbs and methods of cooking. |
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| Rice and curry, however, still comprises the main meal in almost every Sri Lanka house hold. A complete meal of rice and curry consists generally of a plate full of rice with spoonfuls of various curries and sambol heaped upon it. Curries come in a variety of colors and flavors. As all meats, fish, vegetables and even eggs are curried,, they are named after their seasoning rather than their main ingredients. |
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| Curries are cooked in coconut milk. The white kernel of the coconut is grated with a hiramane (a serated metal disc fixed on a wooden bench), mixed with a little water, then squeezed, yielding a first squeezing called the mitikiri (thick milk) and two subsequent squeezings of diyakiri ( thin milk). The quantities of thick and thin milk to be used during preparation differ according to whether your curry is be mild, creamy, thick, thin or dry. There are creamy whit curries (non-spicy), brown curries (using raw curry powder), bright red curries and black curries which appeal more to the taste buds than the vision. |
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| Most Sri Lankan housewives make their own curry powder, already-mixed ones in the markets are often adulterated. Curry powder is a roasted and ground mix of fennel seed, coriander, cumin, turmeric, black and red pepper, mustard, cardamom, cloves, curry and bay leaves, cinnamon, fenugreek and a little raw rice. |
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| Traditionally, food was cooked in a clay (chutty) over a glowing wood fire. This method gives curries a rich, subtle, earthy flavor. Metal pans, however, are fast replacing the chutty today. |
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| With the curries comes mallung, a mild and nutritive addition to the diet. It is made of finely shredded green vegetables and (in some areas) dried shrimps, mixed with grated coconut and spices. |
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