Here is a collection of my favourite Sri Lankan recipes. These have come from a wonderful cooking course we took at Kitchen Garden Ella. Our chef instructor was Swarna, who is also the chef for the restaurant. I highly recommend taking the course and/or eating at the restaurant.

Sri Lankan curries are characterised by an aromatic mix of spices and usually contain coconut milk. They are often dryer than the Indian curries I am used to in the United Kingdom. Of course fresh spices have the most flavour but dried will be fine too.

More recipes to come soon!

Starters and Snacks

The most popular snack we cooked was poppadums. These are different from the usual poppadums we have in the UK. The Sri Lankan version was thicker, crunchier and less greasy. I really liked them and have not been able to find any in London! The coconut roti can be made at home although having freshly grated coconut is definitely tastier than rehydrating desiccated coconut! And of course more coconut in the coconut sambal which is a spicy sweet condiment.

Main Dishes

During our cooking course we cooked so many delicious vegetarian curries. My favourite was the aubergine, which is why I have posted that first. It is a mix of sweet, salty and spicy. The deep frying of the aubergines before adding them to the curry is a necessary if unhealthy step to get the flavour. Other curries included pumpkin, green bean, mango, beetroot, jackfruit, and red lentil daal.

Go to Recipe Map

Go to Travel to Sri Lanka