Sri Lankan Traditional Foods

Milk Rice (Kiri Bath)

Milk rice is one of the traditional food in Sri Lanka which is made using rice. This dish is made at any auspicious moment. The ingredients used are rice, coconut milk and therefore this dish got the name Kiri Bath. This is prepared by cooking rice with coconut milk, where the recipe is fairly simple.

Rice and Curry

Rice is the staple food of the Sri Lankans. Almost every household in Sri Lanka takes rice and curry as its main meal. Meat, fish and vegetables are prepared as curries. Sliced onions, green chilies, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron are used to add flavors. A basic rice and curry requires one fish (or beef or chicken) curry, two different vegetables, one portion of fried crispy stuff like ‘papadam’, a ‘mallum’ of chopped leaves and coconut, and a gravy or ‘hodda’ of spiced and cooked with coconut milk.

Koththu Roti

Koththu roti is a delicious dish which is usually eaten at dinner time. This is made using Gothamba roti, vegetables, eggs or meat and different spices. The Gothamba roti is cut or chopped with the use of two metal blades on wooden handles held on both hands on this sheet or skillet. The clashing of metal blades and the skillet creates a very unique musical sound which kind of announces the making of this Koththu to the people passing by.

Pittu

Pittu is a popular and often prepared food among Sri Lankans, both Sinhalese and Tamils. This is usually eaten at the breakfast. Traditionally the main ingradient of “Pittu” is rice flour, but kurakkan flour or wheat flour also can be used.