Sri Lankan Rice & Curry, Image Credit: Restaurants in Bentota

 

When you visit Sri Lanka, the beautiful tear drop nation in the Indian Ocean, you will discover that the island holds many wonders that range from its wildlife to its historical ruins, culture and food. The latter is most sensational indeed and if you do not try the local cuisine during your trip to Sri Lanka, it is not complete.

 

Being surrounded by golden coasts mean lots of palms, and palms means coconuts and coconuts mean curry and other wonderful dishes. Yes, coconuts play a major role in Sri Lankan cuisine and it’s very hard to find a dish that doesn’t include coconut as an ingredient. The sambols, such as the beloved Pol Sambol and the healthy Gotukola Sambol are made from scraping the inside flesh of the coconut. The curry is made from extracting the milk from the grated coconut flesh. There are so many different types of curries from the popular dhal curry to the expensive-to-make cashew nut curry that can be found at high-end restaurants in Bentota, Colombo and other major cities. A buffet at a luxury hotel like AVANI Bentota Resort & Spa, usually has about 10 different curries, so this will be the perfect opportunity for you to enjoy and fall in love with curry.

 

You cannot eat, curry without rice, and when it comes to rice there are quite a handful to choose from. At one point in history, Sri Lanka was called “The Granary of the East” as it was the champion when it came to rice production. Even today, rice is the staple food of the country and the second largest crop after tea. Some of the most popular rice varieties consumed in the island include Samba, Nadu, Basmati and White Raw Rice. The latter is used to make Kiribath or Milk Rice, which is a dish, served at all auspicious occasions. If you’re a health-conscious person, you can try Rathu Kakulu or raw red rice, which is rich in fibre.

 

Intrigued by history, art and food, Lavinia Woolf is a writer who is passionate about the extraordinary and writes of the exhilarating and enchanting.

 

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