Rice (Rice and Curry) is the main staple in Sri Lankan cuisine. It is eaten either boiled or steamed. Rice is typically eaten with vegetables, meat, or fish curries. Sri Lankan curries are spicy and infused with the characteristic flavors of turmeric and coconut milk.

Direction for Preparing Rice and Curry

1. Boil the rice in a saucepan of salted water until tender.
2. Drain and set the cooked rice aside.
3. Make a seasoning paste by blending the onion, ginger, turmeric, garlic, and salt with a teaspoon of oil.
4. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a pan.
5. Sauté the curry leaves and mustard seeds in the oil until they begin to crackle.
6. Add the seasoning paste to the pan, mix well and cook until it becomes sticky.
7. Stir in the curry powder, then add the coconut milk to the pan.
8. Add the cloves, chili pepper, and cinnamon stick, then allow to simmer for a few minutes.
9. Slice the runner beans and add them to the pan.
10. Cook for fifteen (0:15) minutes until the beans are tender.
11. Add the lime juice to the bean curry.
12. Stir in the garam masala, then turn off the heat.
13. Add the coriander leaves to the bean curry and stir lightly.
14. Dish and serve the Rice and Curry.

Other Popular dishes from Sri Lanka

Kiribath

Kiribath is rice cooked in salted coconut milk until the grains turn soft and porridge-like. Generally eaten for breakfast.

Kottu

Kottu is a spicy stir-fry of shredded roti bread with vegetables. Optional ingredients include eggs, meat, or cheese.

Hoppers

Hoppers are based on a fermented batter, usually made of rice flour and coconut milk with spices.

String hoppers

String hoppers are made from hot-water dough of rice meal or wheat flour.

Lamprais

A Dutch Burgher-influenced dish, lamprais is rice boiled in stock accompanied by meatballs, a mixed meat curry, blachan, aubergine curry, and seeni sambol. All of this is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked in an oven.

Kool

Kool is a seafood broth from Jaffna containing crab, fish, cuttlefish, prawns, and crayfish. It also contains long beans, jak seeds, manioc, spinach, and tamarind.

Pittu

Pittu is a cylinder of steamed rice mixed with grated coconut.

Roti

Gothamba roti is a simple Sri Lankan flatbread usually made from wheat flour. Variants of roti include thengappu roti, in which shredded coconut is mixed into the dough. Another variant is Uraippu roti (spicy roti), in which chopped onions and green chilies are used when making the dough.

Canada National dish