Sri Lanka Cuisine from The Matale Heritage Center by Asiatravel.com

For Bookings: www.asiatravel.com For More Video: book.asiatravel.com The cuisine of Sri Lanka draws influence from the colonists and foreign traders. Rice, which is usually consumed daily, can be found at any special occasion, while spicy curries are favorite dishes for dinner and lunch. A very popular alcoholic drink is toddy, made from palm tree sap. Arrack is the de-facto distilled national drink. Rice and curry refers to a range of Sri Lankan dishes. Sri Lanka’s cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. Another well-known rice dish is Kiribath, meaning “milk rice.” Curries in Sri Lanka are not just limited to meat- or fish-based dishes, there are also vegetable and even fruit curries. A typical Sri Lankan meal consists of a “main curry” (fish, chicken, beef, pork or mutton), as well as several other curries made with vegetable and lentils. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and “sambols” which can sometimes be fiery hot. The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chillies, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite. In addition to sambols, Sri Lankans eat “mallung”, chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavor. Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. In the 15th and 16th centuries, traders …