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A curated gourmet roadmap:

A guide to eating your way through Sri Lanka

23 September 2025
By Teardrop Hotels
Sri Lankan cuisine is a feast born of history, geography, and spice. Sitting at the heart of the ancient maritime Silk Route, the island was a trading post for centuries, drawing Arab, Indian, Malay, Portuguese, and Dutch influences into its kitchens. Merchant ships once left Sri Lanka laden with cinnamon – still among the world’s finest – along with cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper. These spices remain the soul of the island’s cooking, blended into roasted curry powders or infused into fragrant coconut milk gravies. Local staples such as rice, lentils, fresh curry leaves, pandan, and fiery chillies anchor the cuisine in its tropical roots, while seafood from surrounding waters, earthy jackfruit, and kithul treacle bring distinct island character. With so much on offer, we’ve put down a guide to the dishes that are well worth the extra pounds on your next trip through Sri Lanka.

Short eats for snacks on the go
Short eats are the island’s on-the-go savoury snacks, found everywhere from street-side tea shops and cafes to high tea spreads. These bite-sized delights are perfect with a hot cup of tea or as a quick pick-me-up. Galle Face Green is the prime spot to try isso vadai – a deep-fried lentil-and-prawn fritter. Fish cutlets are crisp, breadcrumb-coated balls of mashed potato mixed with spiced tinned mackerel fish. Fish patties are either baked or fried golden, flaky pastry parcels stuffed with savoury fish fillings. Fish or egg rolls feature a soft pancake wrapped around a curried centre, then crumbed and fried – it also comes in chicken and mutton versions. Malu paan – soft bread rolls filled with spicy fish and potato – are a bakery staple, while a vegetable roti is a flatbread folded into a triangle over a vegetable mix and griddled until crisp.
The heart of the table – rice and curry
Rice and curry rank highest among Sri Lanka's national meals. As many as 15 varieties of rice are grown on the island, and preparations of curries vary as you travel between provinces on the island – you may have it served in clay dishes or on a simple banana or lotus leaf, but all spreads will include white or red rice, and a range of curries made using fresh coconut milk as a gravy base, tempered vegetables, dry dishes like mallum, a local green tossed with grated coconut, gotukola sambol (pennywort salad), and a crispy element like papadum (the Indian sub-continent’s answer to a prawn cracker) and deep fried chillies.
Lamprais
Lamprais, an Anglicised derivative of the Dutch word lomprijst, is a Sri Lankan dish introduced by the country's Dutch Burgher population. White rice is cooked in a flavoursome chicken broth, with several accompaniments that are mildly spiced, which normally include chicken or pork, a fish cutlet, fried ash plantains, a boiled and fried egg, all assembled on the rice, which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked in an oven.
Koththu
The island’s most popular street food, this dish is usually served over dinner and consists of chopped parata roti (made of wheat flour), a meat of choice like beef, chicken or seafood, a scrambled egg, and vegetables. All of these ingredients get chopped together on the griddle with cleavers while they sizzle.
Kiribath
A breakfast or brunch staple, kiribath (milk rice) is normally only served in the mornings, and is the local go-to dish to serve when marking special occasions. White or red rice is cooked in fresh coconut milk with a pinch of salt over a low flame until it forms a mushy consistency. Once cooked, it’s cooled to room temperature, flattened out on a plate, and cut into diamond shaped slices. It’s served with an array of accompaniments like ripe bananas, lunu miris (more on this below), and a chicken or fish curry.

Hoppers and string hoppers

Hoppers are made using a base of rice flour and coconut milk and cooked in a unique way that forms a natural basket-shaped crepe of sorts, with a crisp outer shell and a soft, fluffy interior pillow, which can sometimes feature a poached egg. String hoppers are delicate nests of steamed rice noodles – both these dishes are gluten free when made with rice flour and traditionally accompanied with a range of sambols, lunu miris and curries.

Pol roti
One of the most unique flat breads in the region, and the world, pol roti uses just a handful of simple ingredients – freshly grated coconut, wheat flour, salt, water, and a handful of chopped green chilies, onion, and curry leaves. Pol roti is commonly served with curries like dhal, chicken or seafood. You might like to request for it made without the green chilli, onion, and curry leaf combination, for a plainer version that goes down well with kids. Try it served warm with butter, jams, or Marmite.
Jackfruit (Polos)
A superfood alternative to meat, here in Sri Lanka we slow cook chunks of jackfruit in a rich, dark blend of spices for a curry that is packed with flavour. The texture of jackfruit in its natural form is meaty, making it a staple among vegetarians and vegans – you’ll find it in burgers too.
Jaffna crab curry
A specialty of the city of Jaffna in the north of the island, this crab curry is a great example of Tamil cuisine. Preparations for this iconic dish vary and depending on what you’re after you might like it hot or mildly spiced, and are often served alongside rice or string hoppers.
Fish ambulthiyal
Originating from southern coastal villages of the island, fish ambulthiyal is a classic and signature dish made with dried garcinia and black pepper, which gives the fish a mildly spiced and sour flavour, and a method of preserving fish without refrigeration.
Black pork curry
While variations of a black pork curry exist across different regions in Sri Lanka, its origins can be traced to Negombo’s Catholic community – descendants of Portuguese and Dutch settlers. This rich, slow-cooked dish features chunks of fatty pork simmered in roasted curry powder, black pepper, tamarind, and aromatic spices until dark, glossy, and intensely flavoured. This curry pairs great with rice, pittu, or roast paan (a slimmer and crustier version of bread loaf).

Essential side dishes

Possibly the most versatile side dishes in Sri Lanka, pol sambol, seeni sambol, lunu miris and dhal adds an extra layer of flavour to your overall meal. A traditional pol sambol can range from mildly spiced to fiery hot, so approach with caution. Seeni sambol is sweet, spicy, and deeply savoury – made by slow-cooking onions with chilli, sugar, and spices until they caramelise.

Lunu miris is a fiery Sri Lankan relish of crushed red chilli, onion, salt, and lime, packing a punch that transforms any meal. And finally, you may have tried a dhal (lentil) curry before, but it’s nothing like a Sri Lankan dhal curry which is mildly spiced and creamy – perfect for anyone who has low spice tolerance. Traditionally enjoyed with string hoppers, hoppers, or bread, these sides add a punch of flavour to any meal.

The thirst quenchers

Sri Lankan drinks are as refreshing and distinctive as the island itself. King coconut water, drunk fresh from bright orange coconuts, is naturally sweet and hydrating – perfect after a day in the tropical sun. Arrack, a traditional spirit distilled from the sap of the coconut flower, is smooth, aromatic, and often enjoyed with soda or ginger beer. Homemade ginger beer, fizzy and fragrant, delivers a warm, spicy kick. Lion Lager, the country’s iconic beer, is crisp and easy drinking. And no visit is complete without sampling Sri Lanka’s world-famous aromatic Ceylon tea or its rich, earthy Ceylon coffee, grown in the island’s highlands.

Seasonal delicacies and festive sweets

Come May and June, Sri Lanka’s streets are lined with carts piled high with rambutan, its spiky red skin hiding juicy, translucent flesh that’s both sweet and slightly tart. Nearby, you may find the legendary durian – with its distinctive aroma and creamy, custard-like texture, it’s often called the “king of fruits,” loved passionately by some and avoided by others. Equally prized is the delicate mangosteen, known as the “queen of fruits.” During the warmer months, golden mangoes arrive in many varieties, from honey-sweet to slightly tangy, enjoyed fresh, juiced, or in curries and chutneys. The wood apple, a uniquely Sri Lankan fruit with a rough shell, holds a fragrant pulp often blended into a rich, cooling juice. Then there’s soursop, with its spiky green skin and soft, white flesh, yielding a flavour somewhere between pineapple and strawberry, often whirred into juices or smoothies.

Sri Lanka’s seasonal delights also include festive sweets which are traditionally enjoyed during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April. Golden kokis, flower-shaped and crisp, and deep-fried kavum, treacle-filled oil cakes, are staples of every celebratory table. And for Christmas or weddings, there is Love Cake – a dense cake rich with cashews, semolina and honey, embodying centuries of Portuguese influence and Sri Lankan tradition.

End on a sweet note

Sri Lankan sweets are a joyful blend of tropical flavours, creamy textures, and old-world recipes passed down through generations. Buffalo curd with kithul treacle is a healthy classic – thick, tangy curd set in clay pots served with the smoky-sweet syrup of the kithul palm. Pol toffee is a rich coconut fudge, chewy and fragrant, as is milk toffee – a smooth, melt-in-your-mouth square, often dotted with cashews. Pol pani pancakes wrap a soft, crepe-like pancake around a filling of grated coconut simmered in palm treacle. Wattalapan, a silky spiced custard made with jaggery, coconut milk, and cardamom, is a beloved festive dessert with Malay roots. Love cake, believed to have been introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese, is a soft, crumbly cake made using cashew nuts and spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.