Sri Lankan food

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Interested to know if anyone has tried Sri Lankan food and if so, what are your thoughts on the cuisine.

Had it at a Sri Lankan restaurant in Bristol (I think it was called The Coconut Tree) and it was amazing - fresh, zingy flavours, and every dish had coconut. Really tasty. I'm vegetarian and I've been to south India and loved the food. I'm guessing it's similar. Why do you ask?

Just interested to know how the cuisine stands with everyone. I am Sri Lankan and find that people think it can be very spicy but I feel that it’s got huge potential to please the masses.

Love it. My best ever holiday for food was Sri Lanka - HUGE variety of vegetable curries, great breakfasts, short eats, fresh fruit. I really like red rice, which doesn’t seem to be the same here.

Aww thanks for the feedback. As for red rice, depends where you live but if you go to an Indian grocer and get Samba red rice, boil it with lots of water, it’s the perfect red rice and much healthier than white rice.

Kottu is my favourite, mixed seafood kottu is the best but beef is nice too.

I really like it, we have a good restaurant locally but it's not a patch on what I've had in Sri Lanka

I think the food is getting popular and hence the ask. Definitely in London they have food stall etc which are very popular.

And the best bit of staying there is that they serve prawn curry for breakfast.

I don't find it very spicy but I like spicy food

I am half Sri Lankan so probably biased... But I love it!

Love going to sambal express and getting some mutton rolls 😋

Love a family party with all the Sri Lankan curries 😊

Curry for breakfast is pretty normal in Sri Lanka. Might sound strange but they say Eat like a queen/king for breakfast…

Sambol express….Love it. Sambol Kitchen is even better!

I love it - best friend is Sri Lankan heritage and I loved going to hers for the large family gatherings when all her aunts would bring food.

Love the crab curry, hoppers, rasam, chewing on drumsticks (the veg, not the chicken)

There are no Sri Lankan restaurants near me

Ha ha … the veg drumsticks are a revelation…yet to be revealed to the vegan world😆

My favourite is Lampries. mmmm yum!

Yes, the mutton rolls are great and so are the fish cutlets and egg rolls. Love pittu and kottu roti.
I'm of Sri Lankan origin.

I have never tried Sri Lankan food (I live in rural Ireland so not much choice. We have Indian, Thai and Chinese locally and Indonesian a bit further afield).

What would you recommend for a vegetarian and are there any recipe sites that are particularly good. There are a few Asian shops in the nearest town but they are mainly Indian or Chinese focused. They're good at trying to get stuff though if asked.

Lots of recommendations for a vegetarian. Dal curry. Potato curry, spinach curry… one of the best cuisine for vegan and vegetarians I think

I loved the food in Sri Lanka! I'm yet to find a comparable Hopper in a restaurant near me in the UK

My high school best friend was Sri Lankan, my parents were neglectful so I have wonderful memories of being fed in my bestie’s kitchen! Her mum would cook amazing food for us, even sent me off with a packed lunch for the next day sometimes (she knew I didn’t always get much at home).

I bought a Sri Lankan cookery book recently but found it quite dogmatic and off putting. I mean, it's fine to be very specific about ingredients but when you can't get them locally it doesn't help.

Like do you really have to have fresh curry leaves and a dish isn't worth making if you don't?

I'd love a rec for a simple cook book actually if anyone has one? Something like Cooking with Mummyji which was my entry to Punjabi British home-style cooking.

Love it! Holidayed in Sri Lanka and thought the food was fantastic. Live in Edinburgh and sadly don’t think there’s a Sri Lankan restaurant…

I absolutely love Sri Lankan food. The best thing about working from home is being able to make dhal curries that take hours

when DH and I make our regular ‘reasons to stay living in London vs reasons to move to the countryside’ lists, ‘access to Sri Lankan restaurants’ is always on the reasons to stay side

@MilkshakesBringAllTheCoosToTheYard I use dried curry leaves, I can't get fresh without a 25 mile round trip they are a rare treat.

I also am a fusion kind of cook, I take inspiration from travel, tv, friends etc tgen run with it using what I can source easily... eg I cook salmon with a Sri Lankan type spice blend, coconut milk and curry leaves, and serve with whole grain basmati rice

@MilkshakesBringAllTheCoosToTheYard Went to M&S yesterday and saw dried curry leaves on the herb section so hopefully some ingredients are now accessible to everyone.

@tenbob

Interesting, the one thing I like about dal is how quick it is, I cook it in 20 minutes using a recipe from a Sri Lankan friend

Beautiful food - fish curry, lamprais, kothu roti. Yum yum.
If you're opening a restaurant, op, Durham's this way >>>>>>>

It’s absolutely delicious.

that said I’ve only had it in Sri Lanka and think the quality of fresh locally grown ingredients makes a huge difference.
but I’d definitely try a Sri Lankan restaurant in this country.