Sri Lanka has a unique food culture with a long history. It is not Indian food, which is what a lot of people tend to believe when they first arrive on the island. Traditional Sri Lankan food is not all about rice and curry either. With so many ethnicities living in this small country, you cant forget about Tamil, Burgher, and Muslim dishes that are also a part of the local food scene. Making liberal use of local fruit, such as coconut and jackfruit, seafood and a variety of spices, Sri Lankan cooking delivers an abundance of incredible dishes.

Here are some must-try Dishes

Kottu (kottu roti)

Kothu roti is made from Gothamba roti (almost paper-thin, stretchy, oily pancakes cut into small pieces) and vegetables, eggs, or meat and various spices grilled in a flat metal plate. The cook will use two metal blades to cut and mix kottu roti. The sound of the blades hitting the grill is one that you will recognize wherever you travel in Sri Lanka. It is a delicious meal generally eaten at dinner time. Apart from the commonest form of Kothu with meat, eggs or vegetables, a newer variety with cheese has been introduced.

Ambul Thiyal (sour fish curry)

Ambul Thiyal is only one of the many Sri Lankan fish curries, but make sure you try this one in particular because it is different. Tuna that is used for ambul thiyal is cooked in a special mix of spices that includes goraka, black sticky paste. Goraka helps preserve fish so you can leave the curry at room temperature for a week, and it will not spoil. Ambul thiyal is a dry curry dish, meaning all the ingredients are simmered with a small amount of water and cooked until the liquid reduces. This allows the spice mixture to coat each cube of fish.

Lamprais

Traditional dish influenced by the Sri Lankan Dutch Burghers. A scoop of rice is placed in the center of a banana leaf, along with the meat curry (Chicken, beef, pork), two deep-fried cutlets, shrimp paste, eggplant, ash plantain or brinjals. Some also feature a boiled egg, wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed.

Kiribath (Milk Rice) with lunu miris (Onion chili relish)

Kiribath, or Sri Lankan milk rice, is one of the most traditional foods, usually prepared for special occasions like New Year, weddings. Rice is boiled until soft, then coconut milk is added to make it creamy and sticky. Afterward, kiribath is arranged on a plate and shaped like a cake to be cut into diamond-shaped pieces. You can have kiribath with lunu miris (spicy onion relish).

Only try this if you have a high tolerance of spices since this relish is essentially a fine mix of onions (lunu in Sinhalese) and chilis (miris). In the olden days, the two were ground on a special heavy stone called miris gala, a process similar to that of grinding cocoa beans. Today, women use mortar and pestle more often to release juices and create a spicy paste. Lunu minis is a regular accompaniment for pol roti and kiribath.

Pol Roti

One of my favorites, pol roti, is a round flatbread made with wheat flour and scraped coconut. They are best cooked on a roti pan, but a flat plate. Pol roti goes well with lunu miris and lentil curry.

Pani Pol

Pani pol is the Sinhalese term used to describe these coconut milk pancakes stuffed with coconut and sweet jaggery (natural sugar obtained from a particular palm tree) filling. Nowadays you can find it in many restaurants across the country.

Hoppers

Hoppers are the Sri Lankan answer to the pancake. The batter is made from a slightly fermented concoction of rice flour, coconut milk. A ladle of batter is fried in a small bowl shape pan and swirled around to even it out. which makes the shape of a bowl with a soft center and very thin crispy edges. There are four varieties you must try plain hopper, egg hopper, milk hopper, Honey hopper. The first two (plain and egg hopper) are the easiest to find. Roadside shops start making them after five in the evening.