Sri Lankan Food: A Quick Guide For Families
Sri Lankan cuisine is a delightful blend of flavours, aromas, and vibrant colours, making it a perfect culinary adventure for families. Recipes often contain many exotic ingredients, but it’s not all about hot spice! This guide will walk you through the delicious world of Sri Lankan food, offering insights into popular dishes for all the family, including vegetarians, fussy kids and those who don’t love spicy food.
A big part of traveling with kids is experiencing different cultures. We highly recommend taking a Sri Lankan cooking class with your kids, for a fun cultural and educational experience, making and eating traditional foods.
Famous Foods in Sri Lanka For Families: Coconut Sambal, Sri Lankan Hoppers, Sri Lankan Kottu Roti, Sri Lankan Dhal Curry, Coconut Roti, Sri Lankan Curry and Rice, Lamprais, Samosa and Fritter.
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Sri Lankan Food And Culture: Overview
Culture and food in Sri Lanka are deeply interconnected with flavours and traditions reflecting the island’s rich history and diverse influences.
At the heart of Sri Lankan cuisine are the spices that add depths of flavour, and the rice that binds meals together. You’ll find rice is served at all meals as both sweet and savoury offerings.
Influenced by Indian, Portuguese, Dutch and Malay cuisines, Sri Lankan food is a unique blend that usually surprises and delights all who try it. Sharing meals is a much-loved tradition, with special dishes and traditional sweets a strong focus at festivals and celebrations.
Key ingredients in Sri Lankan dishes
Sri Lankan recipes are not short of ingredients, from the staple food of rice to hidden ingredients such as spice that give deep flavour to meals.
- Rice grain and flour: A staple food in Sri Lanka. Varieties include red rice, basmati, and samba rice.
- Coconut: Used as both milk and cream, grated, and as an oil, coconut adds richness, texture and flavour.
- Spices: Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, mustard seeds, turmeric, pepper, lemongrass, mace, chilli and curry leaves.
- Fish and Seafood: Dried and cured, these are used to enhance flavour.
- Sri Lankan Vegetables: Okra, eggplant, beetroot, potato, green beans & carrot.
- Sri Lankan Fruits: Mango, plantain, lime, tamarind, jackfruit, papaya & mangosteen, coconut.
- Jaggery: A natural sugarcane sweetener.
Famous Sri Lankan Food And Dishes To Try
Sri Lanka (in our opinion!) has some of the best food in the world, with a perfect blend of flavours and aromatic spices. From the simple but iconic curry and rice, to string hoppers and coconut rotis, Sri Lanka demonstrates a variety of tasty meals the whole family can enjoy.
Rice And Curry Dishes
The ultimate and most common staple food in Sri Lanka is rice. It is often married up with colourful vegetables, fish, and meat curries. Different varieties of rice change the texture and flavour of your meal and are selected according to the dish. Curries that should be on you ‘must-try’ list include dhal, mango curry, aubergine curry, fish curry and the Sri Lankan special, Lamprais.
Sri Lankan Hoppers and String Hoppers
There are several different ways to prepare hoppers that will suit both breakfast and dinner. They can take the form of either savoury bowl-shaped pancakes made from fermented rice flour, or sometimes string hoppers resembling fragile nests of steamed rice noodles. You’ll find mixed varieties of plain hoppers, vegetable hoppers, egg hoppers and sweet hoppers that your kids will love trying.
Sambols and Chutney
Coconut Sambol is a deliciously zesty condiment that can be added to almost any dish, whereas mango chutney will balance spiciness in curries. They are a perfect introduction to the world of Sri Lankan condiments for anyone not quite ready to move away from they comfort zone.
Sri Lankan Street Food
A favourite street food on the island is a kottu roti. Roti’s (or flat breads) are commonly mixed with vegetables, eggs, and a choice of meat. Sweet varieties such as Coconut Roti are delicious too.
Crispy and flavour-filled prawn fritters (Isso Wade) are a tasty snack kids should try as a seafood Sri Lankan dish. Or try the pastry-wrapped vegetable or meat semosas for a tasty snack. They make great food for on the go.
Sweets
Sri Lankans famously have a sweet tooth and their desserts are often brought to life using an array of spices. Watalappan is a hugely popular creamy, spiced coconut custard dessert and we regularly had sweet coconut pancakes served as part of our breakfast. Sweet deep-fried kavum and kokis, festive Sri Lankan treats, are enjoyed during special occasions.
Vegetarian Food In Sri Lanka
It is very easy to find vegetarian and vegan food in Sri Lanka, with most recipes offered with plant-based alternatives. Nutritional needs can be met through various vegetable curries, lentils, and sambols served with rice. Vegetarian hoppers and vegetable rotis are a common dish in local restaurants.
Cooking Sri Lankan Food With Kids
Getting kids involved in cooking, both at home and while travelling, is one of our must do in Sri Lanka activities. Our kids will try any food and are always keen to participate in local cooking classes. Trying food doesn’t have to mean the same as eating it! Be curious and encourage your kids to be too; there are so many unique flavours and we promise you will love at least some of them!
Kids become intrigued by working with new and interesting raw ingredients and are proud to eat the end result. Joining a Sri Lankan cooking class is an easy way to delve deeper into a country’s culture and traditions with kids, making it a worthwhile educational experience with a tasty reward.
Non-Spicy Food In Sri Lanka
The thought of living on plain boiled rice for your entire itinerary in Sri Lanka may have you wanting to book elsewhere. Not all of our family can tolerate spicy dishes (or are not accustomed to it), but we all ate traditional food and survived three weeks in Sri Lanka!
Non-spicy traditional Sri Lankan food we tried: very mild vegetable coconut curry, rice, rotti, kottu roti, hoppers and most desserts.
In some of the more touristy areas, such as Ella and Mirissa, western food is easily available.
Facts About Sri Lankan Food
- Food is often spicy even if you ask for, and expect it to be mild. There are usually options that do not contain any spice but always be very explicit if you do not want any chilli.
- Rice and coconut are staple ingredients.
- Curry and rice are popular, but they are certainly not the only dishes on offer!
- Sri Lankan food is influenced by Indian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Malay culinary traditions.
- Sri Lankan food is not the same as Indian food.
- Some dishes are eaten with your hands.
Sri Lankan Food: FAQ
As with anywhere in the world, Sri Lanka has a variety of child-friendly food options. Dishes like rotis, mild curries, and string hoppers are popular choices, offering a delicious introduction to the vibrant and diverse flavours of Sri Lankan cuisine for kids.
Breakfast in Sri Lanka is commonly curry, kiribath (a creamy coconut, flavoured rice dish served with spice) or pancakes (hoppers or pain pol).
Sri Lankan food is internationally known for being spicy. Unfortunately, many dishes said not to have spice or that are advertised as ‘mild’, are hotter than the recipient might wish!
Traditional Sri Lankan cusine is known for its spicy taste, but there are plenty of dishes for those that prefer less spice or chili. Vegetable curries and hoppers are often milder alternatives as are sweet dishes.
From vegetarian rice and curry to hoppers filled with coconut sambol, Sri Lankan cuisine caters well to those seeking traditional, meat-free alternatives.
Final Thoughts: Sri Lankan Food For Families
There is no reason to shy away from Sri Lankan cuisine with kids. They will either love or hate it at first taste, but by continuing to offer different foods, tastebuds usually adapt. Trying Sri Lankan food with children can be a fun and budget-friendly experience. The distraction of being hungry after a day at the beach may help!
From curries to street food, experiment with Sri Lankan delights to find something that suits the whole family. Alternatively, Sri Lanka also offers plenty of western options to suit all palates.
