Food in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka and South Indian food share a lot in common, but Indians should not expect to get the same kind of meals as at home. Even in specialized Indian restaurants in Sri Lanka the Dosas, Uthappams and Curries are not exactly prepared in the same way as in Tamil Nadu. Veg food restaurants are not as widespread in Sri Lanka as in India. But it is not a problem at all to ask for a purely vegetarian rice and curry or other vegetarian dishes in any local restaurant. Tour packages particularly designed for Indian pilgrims provide purely vegetarian food, non-veg food only on request. The staple food of Sri Lankans is rice and curry - a mound of rice surrounded by various curries and delicacies, comparable to Indian Thalis. One of the most common curries is Dal, almost always and everywhere. Apart from the rice and curry, Sri Lankan cuisine is a cohesion of influences from South Indian, Arabian and Portuguese and Dutch settlers. Sri Lankan food is generally very spicy. But you can ask for less hot options when ordering your food. Sri Lankan rotis are not simply flat breads, they usually have a vegetable or egg or fish paste filling, but in many restaurants you can ask for plain roties, too. The most common desert in Sri Lanka is Buffalo curd with "honey", a treacle called Kithul Pani. |
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