The Ultimate Vegetarian and Vegan Guide to Sri Lanka
Everything you need to know about vegetarian and vegan cuisine in Sri Lanka including many mouthwatering food pics.
Huge thanks to my family both in the UK and Sri Lanka for helping me with this post. Ya’ll are legends.
Honestly, travelling as a vegetarian or vegan is sometimes a bit...sh*t.
Imagine the scene: you’ve been on a bus for hours to get to some much-talked-about destination, survived on stale bread, weird flavoured crisps and squished bananas only to discover that the dinner you’ve been fantasising about the whole time is a plate of slimy, grey vegetables. This can be demoralising to say the least. Especially as you watch your partner tuck into a juicy kebab.
The grey vegetables of my nightmares in Macau, China
Luckily, today we are talking about Sri Lanka - a teardrop-shaped island that is also one of the best countries to visit if you are vegetarian or vegan.
How do I know this? Well, my family are Sri Lankan. I spent most of my childhood eating Sri Lankan food, working my way through spicy curries and mountains of rice (or complaining that I wanted a ‘proppa British dinner of burgers and chips like my mates. Ideally whilst watching Eastenders. Cos that’s, you know, what I thought of as quintessentially British).
One of the well-known facts about Sri Lankan food is that we like to keep things spicy (usually ranging from eye-watering to blow-your-head off hot). However, as you’ll find out in this article, Sri Lankan food is about so much more than just the very liberal use of chillies.
The Ultimate Vegetarian and Vegan Guide to Sri Lanka
I ain’t gonna lie: this blog post is mammoth and covers 50 dishes (what can I say, I like to be thorough). Feel free to skip ahead to the section that you want.
Contents
Why is vegan and vegetarian food in Sri Lanka SO Good?
I’ve indicated which dishes are vegan or vegetarian (some have both options). If you aren’t a lover of spicy food, I’ve also mentioned which dishes are milder.
Why is vegan and vegetarian food in Sri Lanka SO Good?
Firstly, there’s the incredible range of herbs and spices that are used in all Sri Lankan dishes. Coriander, ginger, cardamom, clove, nutmeg, curry leaves, tamarind...you name it, there’s going to be a Sri Lankan dish out there that’s using it!
This array of flavours and spices is what makes Sri Lankan food so unique and also points to the country’s diverse and complex historical past: you can find Muslim Malay dishes, such as Malay achcharu (also know as Malay pickle) and lamprais, a Dutch-influenced baked rice and curry dish, as well as Indian origin dishes like vadai (popular and extremely addictive lentil fritters) and pittu (steamed rice flour mixed with grated coconut). I’ve officially made myself hungry already...mmm.
There is also some totally banging Sri Lankan food in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!
The smile of someone who loves rice and curry in Galle, Sri Lanka
Secondly, as you might expect with a tropical island, Sri Lanka is blessed with an abundance of fruits and vegetables. Familiar produce like aubergine, coconut, okra, beetroot and potato are commonly used in curries, stir-fries and salads alongside more exotic items, such as gotu kola (aka pennywort), snake gourd, breadfruit and jackfruit (the last one now a beloved meat substitute for vegans). All these fruits and veggies equal lots of tasty vegetarian and vegan food.
Thirdly, Sri Lankan food has naturally got a lot of vegan options basically because people tend to use coconut milk and coconut oil (instead of ghee or milk-based products).
Pro tip for vegans: if you are worried, don’t be afraid to ask whether a dish contains ghee, dairy products or egg when you are ordering.
The variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes, glutton-friendly portions (most restaurants don’t want their customers to leave hungry, so expect huge heapings of rice and at least five different curries) and wallet-friendly fare (an average rice and curry plate costs between £1-£2) make Sri Lankan cuisine a huge winner in my book.
If you are vegetarian or vegan and heading to Sri Lanka, give your tastebuds the workout they need and be sure you try at least one of the following dishes!
Looking for other vegan food guides? Check out the best places for vegan Turkish breakfast in Istanbul here.
Bread and Rice Dishes
Sri Lankans are all about that #carblife, so if you are one of the “no carbs before Marbs” brigade, then stop reading now, because Sri Lankan food really isn’t for you.
Love carbs? Then come along for the ride my friend. Sri Lankan curries usually accompany some kind of rice or bread: all of them are vegetarian, with most actually being vegan.
1) Hoppers (Vegan and vegetarian options)
Ever wondered what the child of a pancake and an English crumpet would be like? No? (Okay, maybe this is just me then). If you did wonder, hoppers would be your answer.
Hoppers (also known as appa or appam in Sinhala and Tamil) are a popular Sri Lankan food. Whilst I like to have hoppers at any time of day, they are traditionally served for breakfast and occasionally after 5.00pm.
Rice flour, coconut milk and yeast are mixed together and then left to rise for around one hour. Once the batter is all risen and bubbly (“pipilla” as my Mum would say in Sinhala), it’s time to get cooking. The batter is poured into a small appa pan, resembling a tiny wok, and swirled around to cook.
The perfect appa has a small risen dome shape in the centre with a spongy crumpet-like texture whilst the edges are crispy and brown. The yeast gives a hopper a unique fermented taste - a little like Ethiopian injera bread but less sour. If your mouth is already watering, then you aren’t alone: hoppers are the ultimate moreish delicacy. One is just never enough.
Here’s one my Mum made earlier.
Unless you are in London and paying £5 for a hopper (WTAF), in which case one is more than enough because you’ll bankrupt yourself. Buy your own rice flour, talk to a Sri Lankan aunty about where to get a pan and make them at home.
Hoppers are one of the best Sri Lankan dishes simply because of the number of variations there are to this single dish.
If you are someone who doesn’t consider breakfast to be breakfast unless eggs are involved, then hoppers have got you: bithara appa is a hopper made with a steamed, perfectly cooked egg in the middle. Plain hoppers are usually served with a spicy condiment known as lunu miris but no one will raise an eyebrow if you pour a bit of curry into the centre of your hopper and eat it that way.
There are also dessert hoppers (oh so exquisite) - more on that later.
2) Godamba roti / Sri Lankan Paratha (Vegan)
Godamba roti is a Sri Lankan version of Indian paratha: an intensely satisfying, flaky flatbread cooked on a stovetop. Flour, oil, salt and water are combined to make a soft dough, which is then divided into small balls. The dough balls are then soaked in oil for 7-8 hours or overnight (look, I never said this was healthy) after which the dough is stretched and flattened out into a square-ish shape.
If you are at a restaurant, the actual process of stretching out the dough is pretty entertaining. The dough is basically flipped over and over on a flat surface until it is really thin. Takes some skill!
Godamba roti is also similar to Malaysian roti canai and Taiwanese scallion pancake. When things taste good, they taste good to everyone.
3) Kottu roti (Vegan and vegetarian options)
Kottu roti is best described as Sri Lanka’s junk food: imagine after a night out that instead of getting a greasy (vegan) burger to soak up all the booze you’ve consumed, you go and get kottu rotti instead.
If you love your fast food with some ‘choons, then this is definitely the vegan dish for you: you’ll know that you are definitely near a kottu stall because you’ll hear the rhythmic clanking of the chopping blades even before the stall comes into view.
Kottu chefs slice up and fry godamba roti into super fine pieces until it looks a little like fried rice, after which they mix it with any ingredients of your choosing: the vegan options usually include leeks, cabbage, carrots, curry sauce and some spices (vegetarians can also add in egg, if that’s how you like your kottu). Once fried to perfection, the kottu roti is served with a spicy tomato dipping sauce.
Some of the most talented chefs even have their own musical numbers and literally sing along to the beat of their blades. Fast food and entertainment in one - now who could argue with that?
4) Pol Roti / Coconut Flatbread (Vegan)
Why have just one kind of roti when you can have multiple types? Pol roti is a dense Sri Lankan coconut flatbread made by grating coconut and mixing it together with flour, salt and water. The mixture is brought together to form a dough and then it is separated into balls, which are flattened out into small discs. These are then cooked to perfection on a flat pan or skillet until they are golden brown on each side.
My favourite kind of pol roti is the pimped up version my Dad makes, where the roti mix is combined with onion and green chillies and you sometimes get a big piece of coconut cooked into it. Mouth. Watering. Already.
Pol roti is another traditional dish that is commonly found on a Sri Lankan breakfast menu and is usually served with pol sambol or parippu (you’ll find out what those are below). I sometimes keep things simple and eat them spread with a little butter in the morning.
5) Indiappa / String Hoppers (Vegan)
"Sri Lankan Foods" by Lakpura LLC is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Moving away from roti and into a land of rice flour-based dishes, we have string hoppers (aka indiappa, idiyappam in Sinhala and Tamil. You can also find them in Malaysia where they are called putu mayam).
A classic Sri Lankan breakfast mainly eaten with a side dish of - you’ve guessed it - curry, indiappa is made by mixing rice flour, hot water and salt together to make a thick dough. Some recipes also add a bit of oil, whilst others use red rice flour, which makes reddish coloured string hoppers. In Sri Lanka you can find both white and red indiappa.
The dough is then pushed through a string hopper presser that transforms it into thin noodles which are woven into a flat circular shape. They sort of remind me of a rice flour doily! The string hoppers are steamed for 5-10 minutes and then they are ready!
Kiri hodhi
String hoppers are usually served with kirihodi (a coconut milk gravy), or pol sambol, a grated coconut relish. The absorbent nature of indiappa make them perfect for mopping up curries and in some countries they are even served as a dessert with brown sugar and coconut milk! The fact that they are steamed and not fried also makes this a healthy Sri Lankan food option.
6) Pittu (Vegan)
Like string hoppers, pittu is another famous Sri Lankan breakfast dish, made with rice flour and that other common Sri Lankan ingredient: coconut. Grated coconut and coconut milk are combined with hot water, rice flour and salt. This thick dough is then shaped into long pieces and pressed into a pittu steamer (also known as a pittu bambuwa), where it is steamed for around 7 minutes.
The final result is a cylindrical shaped ‘cake’ with a crumbly texture. Pittu is usually eaten with lunu miris, warmed coconut milk or another kind of saucy curry. Pittu also works great for soaking up curries, making sure you don’t miss a single drop of deliciousness.
7) Kiribath (Vegan)
Looking for traditional Sri Lankan food? Then look no further than kiribath. Kiribath or coconut milk rice combines two things that Sri Lankans love: rice and coconut. It used to be a dish that was served for special occasions like New Year, birthdays or weddings, but these days it is common to have kiribath for breakfast.
Rice is cooked with water, salt, thick coconut milk and sometimes pandan leaves until it becomes mushy and sticky. It is then transferred into a shallow dish and patted down until it makes a sort of flat cake. The kiribath is then cut into square or diamond shape pieces.
Most people have kiribath with a side of lunu miris or seeni sambol, although I sometimes like to have something sweet with it, like kithul palm treacle - a syrup made from jaggery - as it complements the coconut flavour of the rice perfectly!
You’ve probably gathered by now that Sri Lankan breakfasts are totally epic, but Turkey also knows how to throw down in the breakfast arena. Check out this guide to Turkish breakfasts.
Curries
I am not going to lie: Sri Lanka has so many curries suitable for vegetarians and vegans, that I can’t possibly list them all here. So instead, I am going to include a selection of my favourite curries which are a mix of typical dishes that you will find everywhere in Sri Lanka plus a couple that I’ve only come across once or twice but that I think are really tasty.
Ask any traveller their opinion on the best food in Sri Lanka and they’ll probably say ‘rice and curry’. This is a popular thing to have for lunch but the name is actually a misnomer: it should be rice and curries. When you sit down for rice and curry in Sri Lanka, you will actually be served with at least four or five curries plus sambols/condiments.
This is why it’s always best to wear stretchy pants in Sri Lanka
If you are wondering about everything tasting the same or flavours clashing - that ain’t gonna happen. Sri Lankans are experts at pairing flavours together so you will usually find that you have one mild creamy curry (sometimes known as a ‘white’ curry), one tempered curry (which is much spicer and has a stronger flavour); some kind of green leafy vegetable, a fried dish and something crunchy (this could be pappadums).
Ready to delve into the curries? Read on!
8) Parippu (Vegan)
My life would be empty without lentils (#truth) and luckily for me, one of Sri Lanka’s staple dishes is parippu - a take on Indian dhal.
You will see this typical Sri Lankan food at pretty much every cafe and restaurant. This is a good thing for vegetarians/vegans for three reasons: 1) it’s vegan; 2) it’s nutritious and packed with protein (so you can tell all those “where do you get your protein from?” pr*cks to shut the f@%k up and 3) it is damn tasty.
If you are a vegan in Sri Lanka, parippu is also a great fall back dish e.g. if you happen to be in an area where you can’t find much vegan food (very unlikely, but never say never). It’s also hella cheap.
Made with split red lentils, green chillies, cinnamon, pandan leaves, shallots, turmeric and unroasted curry powder, Sri Lankan dhal curry is slightly different to other dhals as coconut milk is added to the lentils during the cooking process which makes the whole dish really rich and creamy.
9) Kadju curry / Cashew Nut Curry (Vegan)
No vegetables for a curry? No problem. I absolutely adore this rich vegan Sri Lankan curry made from cashew nuts! Kadju curry is a milder curry (so if you struggle with spicy dishes or have kids who aren’t used to spices yet, this one's for you). Like kiribath, you can find it being served at special occasions.
When a Sri Lankan curry is considered ‘mild’ that doesn’t mean that no spices are used. On the contrary, there are plenty of spices: there just isn’t loads of chilli. Basically, Sri Lankan vegan food is never boring. There’s no bland as f@%k, beige food here.
Tomatoes, onions, curry leaves are fried together and then combined with cumin, chilli powder, turmeric and cinnamon. The cashews are added to the mix and the dish is finished off with coconut milk and a dash of roasted curry powder to make a creamy, nutty and mildly spiced curry. This Sri Lankan cashew curry goes perfectly with a side of plain rice, but honestly I would have it with any of the carbs I’ve mentioned above.
10) Beetroot curry (Vegan)
Beetroot is known for being a vegetable absolutely packed with all kinds of nutrients like potassium, iron and vitamin C as well as being a great source of fibre. There are lots of ways to cook beetroot (we’ve all seen it featured in salads or burgers) but Sri Lankans (who you might realise by now can ‘curry’ pretty much anything) have made a curry out of it instead!
Sri Lankan beetroot curry is probably more accurately described as a stir-fry. The beetroots are sliced into thin strips and then cooked until soft in water with curry leaves, onions, garlic, turmeric and salt. Some chefs add coconut milk in at this point, but I prefer this dish to be less creamy. The beetroot mixture is then stir-fried with oil and a little chilli.
I had beetroot curry for lunch all over Sri Lanka and I found that the sweet and spicy flavour of the beetroot went really well with all sorts of curries. Like the kadju curry, this is a great dish for people who don’t like spices because in most places it is quite mild.
It also turns your rice a pinky colour, which for me is a ridiculous added bonus.
11) Ala kiri hodhi / Creamy Potato Curry (Vegan)
I always think of potatoes as being a sort of workhorse of the food world and although I enjoy dishes like chips, jacket potatoes and mash, I never really get that excited about the humble spud. It’s just something that takes on the flavour of other more exciting ingredients.
Ala kiri hodhi is, however, another staple of Sri Lankan cuisine and honestly one of the few cases where potatoes actually become exciting. It’s also another dish that is suitable for kids (you can even ask for it to be made without chillies) as it is pretty mild.
In this creamy curry, the potatoes are fried together with cinnamon, cardamom, garlic, curry and pandan leaves, chopped onions, green chillies and turmeric powder. Mustard seeds are then added to the mix plus that staple ingredient that forms the basis of every creamy Sri Lankan curry: coconut milk. The potatoes are then slow-cooked in the coconut milk until they are melt-in-your-mouth soft and the gravy has thickened.
You’ll find this Sri Lankan potato curry practically everywhere so if like my best mate you love potatoes, you’ll never have to miss out on them during your trip. Result!
12) Spicy Dry Potato Curry (Vegan)
They might not be my number one choice, but potatoes are hella versatile.
Dry or devilled potato curry is another common potato dish and is made by frying potatoes together with red chilli powder, mustard seeds, green chillies, turmeric, onions, cumin, cardamom and curry leaves.
As if green chillies and red chilli powder weren’t enough, some people also add in some extra chilli flakes for even more of a kick. This dish is known as ‘devilled’ potato curry, basically due to how much chilli is in it!
It’s not exactly conventional, but devilled potatoes are the perfect filling in a toasted sandwich.
13) Polos curry / Young Green Jackfruit Curry (Vegan)
Sri Lankans have been cooking with the spiky jackfruit long before ‘Pulled jackfruit’ was even a thang on vegan menus. As a fruit, it is amazingly versatile: in Sri Lanka, it is eaten at various stages of ripeness and even the jackfruit seeds are used to make a moreish snack and a curry.
In Sri Lankan polos curry, the immature, green version of the fruit is used and this has a huge impact on the flavour: whereas a mature jackfruit is very sweet, young jackfruit has a slightly sour taste and when cooked, a meat-like texture that is similar to shredded pork or beef. Polos is also a drier curry, so if you aren’t a big fan of saucy dishes, this is one to try.
Sri Lankan jackfruit curry is made by marinating jackfruit in turmeric, chilli powder, tamarind juice, roasted curry powder, turmeric and salt. Garlic, ginger, onion, curry and pandan leaves, cinnamon, mustard seeds and cardamom are all fried together and then added to the marinated jackfruit. Coconut milk is mixed in and the whole dish is cooked down until the jackfruit is soft and the coconut milk has almost completely evaporated.
You might also find ambul polos curry on menus: in this dish, goraka, (also known as Indian tamarind) is added into the dish, to make it taste sour. Goraka is an acquired taste, but if you want to try authentic Sri Lankan food, be sure to give this dish a go.
In most restaurants and homes, polos is a slow-cooked dish. If you are served this curry and the jackfruit is super dark in colour then good news, this is Sri Lankan vegan food at its best! The polos has probably been bubbling away on the stove for 2 hours or more.
14) Kiri kos/Green Jackfruit Curry Cooked in Coconut Milk (Vegan)
Sticking with the mighty jackfruit for a moment, let me introduce you to kiri kos. From the description above, you might think that I’ve made a mistake in this article and basically listed the same jackfruit dish twice.
But you would be wrong my friends. This is a very different dish.
Starting off with the jackfruit itself: the previous dish uses young green jackfruit, where the fruit is hard and hasn’t actually got any seeds. Kiri kos still uses immature jackfruit, but for this dish, it’s a little older and has seeds. This is important because some recipes for kiri kos use jackfruit and jackfruit seeds.
Kiri kos is also another great example of another mild ‘white’ curry as it uses plenty of coconut milk. The jackfruit is first cooked with cinnamon, curry and pandan leaves, onions, mustard seeds, garlic, curry powder, turmeric and salt and pepper.
Coconut milk is added and everything is left to simmer until the jackfruit has softened and some of the coconut milk has evaporated. Cue more coconut milk being added to the dish (this is definitely a country that lurves coconut) and the jackfruit is simmered a little longer until it has gone really soft and mushy and is surrounded by a thick, creamy gravy. The dish is finished off with yet more scrumptious goodness: garlic, mustard seeds, onions, red chillies and curry leaves that have been tempered in a little oil are poured on top.
15) Thakkali curry / Tomato Curry (Vegan)
I was first served thakkali curry at the Young Men’s Buddhist Association (YMBA) restaurant in Galle (which, for the record, serves the cheapest and tastiest Sri Lankan food). I had no idea that there was a Sri Lankan curry made with tomatoes, which is completely stupid really, because as this article already shows, clearly anything can be curried.
Garlic, cardamom, curry and pandan leaves and ginger are ground together to form a paste and then fried. Chopped tomatoes, turmeric, mustard seeds, black pepper, chilli powder, salt and sugar are combined with the fried curry paste and it is all cooked together. Once the tomatoes have softened, a dash of coconut milk is added to finish off the dish.
Sri Lankan tomato curry tastes like a hug on a plate: sweet, sour and just a little spicy, it tastes more like a chutney than a curry!
16) Kalu Pol Wattaka / Roasted Coconut and Pumpkin Curry (Vegan)
Roasted coconut. Softened, sweet, creamy pumpkin. Could anything be more tantalising than these things combined together? (Answers on a postcard please).
I love pumpkins and coconut and so this is basically my dream curry. Kalu pol wattaka is also a unique vegan Sri Lankan curry because it uses roasted rice and coconut to create a very thick and creamy sauce.
Grated coconut and uncooked rice are toasted until they turn golden brown and then ground down into a fine powder using a pestle and mortar. This is then added to a fried curry paste made from green chillies, onions, mustard and fenugreek seeds, pandan and curry leaves, chilli powder, turmeric powder and curry powder. Chopped pumpkin pieces are added to the paste, with water and coconut milk and the dish is simmered until the pumpkin softens.
Of course, there’s also another Sri Lankan pumpkin curry, known simply as ‘wattaka’ which is a tad milder and uses fewer spices - the pumpkin is simply cooked with coconut milk, garlic, onions, cinnamon, mustard seeds and cardamom.
The rule of thumb regarding vegan food in Sri Lanka seems to be this: don’t be satisfied until you can cook any vegetable/fruit/nut/[insert food item here] in at least two different ways.
17) Del / Breadfruit Curry (Vegan)
Del or breadfruit curry is yet another amazing vegan Sri Lankan curry that is absolutely unique to the island. The fruit itself belongs to the jackfruit family (both fruits are starchy) but the flavour and texture of breadfruit reminds me more of potatoes.
Del is made by simmering together breadfruit, chilli powder, turmeric, curry powder, onions, green chillies, cinnamon, pandan and curry leaves and salt in thick coconut milk until the breadfruit is soft. Once it has cooked through, tempered spices (mustard seeds, red chillies, onions, pandan and curry leaves) are added at the end.
Despite all the chilli used, del tends to be quite a mild, rich and creamy curry and should definitely be on your list of vegan curries to try when in Sri Lanka.
18) Mallung (Vegan)
Mallung in Sinhala basically means ‘mixed’ and this dish can be made using any leafy vegetable. When I was a kid, most of the time we had gova mallung (cabbage mallung) which I hated, but have now come to like. Sort of.
I think my mum wishes this could have happened sooner, as it would have saved us a lot of mallung-related arguments.
Gova mallung is made by lightly frying sliced white cabbage with curry leaves, onion, garlic, cinnamon and turmeric and then mixing in grated coconut and green chillies, a little lime juice and salt. As the cabbage is only fried for a couple of minutes, it stays crunchy (because God knows I hate sloppy, mushy cabbage. Yucks).
Another common mallung in Sri Lanka is nivithi mallung (spinach mallung) which I tend to prefer and is basically made with similar ingredients. As with the cabbage, the spinach is basically flash-fried in the pan so it retains its green colour and most importantly, all of its nutrients.
Salads
I’ve heard people complain that the ‘problem’ with Sri Lankan food is that there aren’t enough fresh-tasting vegetables and everything has been ‘cooked to death’.
I am here to say that these people are just plain wrong.
Salads do feature in Sri Lankan cuisine, they just tend to be a bit...spicier.
19) Gotukola Sambol / Pennywort Salad (Vegan)
Nowadays I’ve got used to seeing gotukola (aka pennywort) make an appearance everywhere: this wonder plant is touted as being the ‘herb of longevity’ and is purported to do everything from easing insomnia and improving brain function to reducing stretch marks.
However, before all this, I only recognised this plant in its tasty form: in a gotukola sambol. If you want a fresh, herby side dish to go with your rice and curry mountain, make sure to order this salad.
Gotukola sambol is made by mixing chopped gotukola leaves with freshly grated coconut, chopped tomatoes, green chillies, shallots, salt and lime juice. The end result is a fresh-tasting tangy salad with a spicy kick that goes well with plain rice and any curry. If you are being super healthy, you can even eat gotukola sambol on its own.
20) Thakkali Sambolla / Tomato, Onion and Chilli Salad (Vegan)
Another Sri Lankan salad that isn’t afraid to use chilli. Thakkali sambolla is a simple tomato and onion salad and like gotukola sambol, tastes fresh and yummy. Tomatoes are mixed with green chillies, red onion, salt, fresh black pepper, lime juice and chilli flakes. Some people like to add Maldive fish (umbalakada) to this, so double-check this when you are ordering.
This salad reminds me a little of salsa and is another thing that I would happily have in a toasted sandwich. In Sri Lanka however, you are more likely to find it accompanying rice and curry.
21) Beetroot Salad (Vegan)
This salad basically follows the same recipe as thakkali sambola, except that you swap out the tomatoes for beetroot instead.
Snacks
If you’ve already stuffed yourself with rice and curry and are just feeling peckish, it’s useful to know which Sri Lankan snacks - aka ‘short eats’ - are vegetarian or vegan.
22) Vadai (Vegan)
In Sri Lanka you can’t really go anywhere without hearing ‘vadai, vadai, vadai’. Following the calls of these street sellers leads you to one of the tastiest street food snacks EVER.
Also found in Malaysia and Southern India, vadai are deep-fried snacks made with lentils that are just a party in your mouth.
In Sri Lanka, there are several types of vadai: ulundu vadai (which looks like a ring doughnut and tends to be a little spongy and soft) and masala/parippu vadai which is round and crispier.
Ulundu vadai is made by combining ground split skinned black lentils (aka Urad dhal) with salt, green chillies, onions, and curry leaves. These are then shaped into small round balls and a hole is poked in the centre. The ulundu vadai are deep-fried until they are perfectly golden brown. Oh. My. Goodness.
Parippu vadai follows a similar recipe, except that it uses channa dhal (split chickpea lentils).
When you buy vadai, make sure to have it with a cup of sweet Sri Lankan tea.
There are other short-eats such as cutlets, rolls and pattis but these tend to be filled with fish or mutton. If you want to try these, ask about the fillings before you order.
23) Kaddala Thel Dala / Spicy Fried Chickpeas (Vegan)
Kaddala thel dala is a spicy dry-fried chickpea dish that is commonly eaten for breakfast in Sri Lanka but is perfect as a healthy, high protein snack.
Boiled chickpeas are stir fried with curry leaves, thinly sliced onion, chilli flakes, dried red chillies and salt. Often chunky pieces of coconut or freshly grated coconut is added to the dish at the end.
Kaddala is definitely one of those dishes where one bowlful is simply not enough. If I have it for breakfast I often find myself going back for more!
Condiments and Pickles
A Sri Lankan meal just isn’t complete without sambols which are essentially condiments. Mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and brown sauce are out, instead let me present to you the Sri Lankan quadrumvirate of sambols: lunu miris, pol sambol, seeni sambol and katta sambol. (And yes, I did waste some time trying to work out how I could use ‘quadrumvirate’ in that sentence).
Important note for vegetarians and vegans: the fourth sambol (katta sambol) contains a particularly pungent Sri Lankan ingredient known as Maldive fish, but the three others are actually vegan so don’t worry, you won’t be missing out on your sambol fix. Some people do like to add Maldive fish to the other sambols too so do check before you order.
If you have a delicate palate and can’t handle spicy food, then bad news - all these sambols use liberal amounts of chilli so I’d advise you to skip them altogether.
Pickles or achcharu are also an integral part of Sri Lankan cuisine and just like curries can be made with pretty much anything.
Sri Lankan achcharu features every fruit and vegetable imaginable - basically if they can grow it, they can pickle it. Many stores and roadside stalls sell pickles, with fruit pickles recently becoming a sought after street-side snack!
Every Sri Lankan meal is accompanied by at least one of these sambols or pickles so let me break them down for you.
24) Lunu Miris (Vegan)
Lunu miris is a salty-sour sambol made by pounding together red onions, dried red chillies, lemon or lime juice and salt (the name literally means “salt chilli”).
I am not gonna lie: lunu miris is spicy as hell. Perhaps for this reason, it usually accompanies one of the dense carbs adored by Sri Lankans. This is because the sometimes eye-watering spiciness of lunu miris is softened by the creaminess of something like kiribath or absorbed by the dense and crispy yumminess of a hopper, so your mouth isn’t totally on fire, but just has a pleasantly spicy kick. If you want to eat lunu miris on its own, reconcile yourself to spending some hours on the toilet.
25) Pol Sambol (Vegan)
Pol sambol, is a shredded coconut condiment that leaves you wondering where it has been all your life. Freshly grated coconut is mashed together with chilli powder, salt, lime or lemon juice, basically creating a coconut version of lunu miris.
Pol sambol is a bit milder too, so if you aren’t a big fan of spicy food, but want to try one of the sambols, this is a good one to start with. It can also be served with pretty much anything: rice, pol roti (because we can never have too much coconut, amirite?), hoppers, and as another dish to have with rice and curry.
Some people even love to just eat pol sambol on its own, as evidenced by Vincent’s dad once pouring a whole load onto his plate and eating it by itself.
26) Seeni Sambol (Vegan)
And now onto the most delectable of them all - seeni sambol. This is another dish where all the ingredients are slowly cooked down until everything caramelises beautifully together. It also epitomises Sri Lankan’s love of bold flavours: seeni sambol somehow tastes spicy, sour and sweet, all at the same time!
Seeni sambol is made by frying red onions over a low heat with cinnamon, sugar, cardamom, chilli (yes, more chilli), cloves and curry leaves until all the ingredients have softened and darkened in colour.
Whilst you can eat seeni sambol with kiribath or any of the other Sri Lankan carbs, the best way, in my opinion, is with bread. More accurately, in a sandwich. The spicy rich caramelised onion flavour of the sambol with its hint of sweetness sits perfectly atop a buttered piece of bread.
27) Wambatu moju (Vegan)
Ah the humble aubergine. When it’s not busy being stuffed in Turkish cuisine to make the gorgeous imam bayildi or acting as a penis emoji on Whatsapp, the aubergine makes one of my favourite vegetarian Sri Lankan dishes of all time. It was served at our wedding and was a hit with practically EVERYONE.
Wambatu moju is basically an aubergine pickle, and is one of the many dishes that accompany Sri Lankan rice and curry. Aubergine, shallots, cardamoms, chillies and ground mustard are slowly reduced down with coconut milk, sugar and vinegar until everything is caramelised.
The end result is a satisfyingly sticky, spicy and sweet concoction (accidental alliteration there) that is sure to make you catch feelings.
28) Malay achcharu / Sri Lankan Malay Pickle (Vegan)
We’ve finally made it to Malay achcharu, which I mentioned right at the beginning of this article. Sweet and spicy, this is the perfect condiment to complete your plate of rice and curry.
Sugar, ground mustard, chilli powder, minced ginger and vinegar are simmered together in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Then shallots, carrots, green chillies and dates are added to the sauce and everything is mixed together until well coated. Most pickles are left to ferment for at least 24 hours, by which time the dates will have dissolved and the green chillies, carrots and shallots will have absorbed the flavour of the spices.
29) Latapata achcharu / Sinhala Achcharu (Vegan)
"Achcharu Stand" by indi.ca is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Latapata achcharu has recently become a famous food in Sri Lanka. The word ‘latapata’ means ‘clutter’ or ‘knick-knacks’ so it is strange to see this word in a dish, but I guess the meaning here is a pickle that includes literally anything.
Usually everything can be thrown into latapata achcharu so it is best to check the ingredients to make sure that no dried fish has been added. Most of the time it includes the basic achcharu ingredients of shallots and green chillies plus whatever someone can find in the kitchen such as papaya, carrots or cauliflower. These ingredients are mixed together in a pickling sauce made from vinegar, turmeric powder, ground mustard, ginger, garlic and salt and left to ferment overnight.
30) Lunu Dehi / Sri Lankan Lime Pickle (Vegan)
"Lime Pickle" by Girl Interrupted Eating is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Hot, sour and spicy and also the subject of an old but well-known Sri Lankan baila song, Lunu Dehi is another pickle not to miss. Originally the recipe was created to preserve ripe limes during the harvest and to ensure that a tart, citrus flavour could be added to any dish all year round.
The process of making lunu dehi is slightly different as the pickling agent is salt and not vinegar and making it properly is a longgggg, drawn-out process. But patience brings spicy and delicious rewards.
Lunu dehi uses ripened limes which are cut, stuffed with salt, covered with a muslin cloth and then dried in the sun for 4-6 days until all the moisture is removed. Spicy whole green chillies, black pepper, red chilli flakes/dried red chillies and lime juice is then added and the lunu dehi is covered and once again left in the sun for two whole weeks. Some people even dry out and ferment the lunu dehi for three months as the longer it ferments, the longer it lasts.
Desserts
Luckily for me, Sri Lankans love desserts just as much as they love chillies (you can probably guess this by the diabetes-inducing sweet milk tea that is served everywhere).
Like the rest of the island’s food, Sri Lankan desserts are a mouthwatering mish-mash of the country’s cultural influences. Most desserts are vegan and others are vegetarian, so get ready to indulge your sweet tooth!
31) Pani Pol Pancakes (Vegetarian)
The pani pol filling that is used inside the pancakes
Pani pol pancakes have to be one of the best Sri Lankan desserts ever as it combines three heavenly things: grated coconut, kithul palm jaggery (the solid version of the treacle) and pancakes. What’s not to love? Syrupy and sweet, this is an indulgent dessert that beats a lemon and sugar pancake filling hands down.
This dessert also has similarities to Malaysian and Indonesian kuih dadar where shredded coconut is mixed with gula melaka (Malaysian palm sugar) and then wrapped in a pancake that has been dyed green with pandan leaves.
The pani pol pancakes are technically crepes, but they have still been Sri Lankanised by the use of coconut milk in the recipe instead of regular milk. The pani pol filling is made by melting jaggery and combining it with ground cardamoms. Freshly grated or desiccated coconut is added and everything is then thoroughly combined. All that’s left is to stuff the pancakes with the yummy filling, eat, stuff and repeat.
32) Lavariya (Vegan)
Take string hoppers (which I talked about earlier in the ‘carbs’ section of this article), stuff them with pani pol and you have...lavariya. All the yumminess of a lacey string hopper but suped-up with pani pol.
33) Imbul kiribath (Vegan)
Remember creamy, delectable kiribath that Sri Lankans like to have for breakfast or make to celebrate special occasions? Well here it makes an appearance again, but this time with a twist!
Imbul kiribath is made by placing some kiribath into a cup-shaped mould, making a hole in the centre and filling it with pani pol. More kiribath is added at the top and then the whole thing is turned onto a plate. It reminds me a little of a lava cake, albeit one made from rice and with a coconut treacle centre.
One thing’s for sure - vegan food in Sri Lanka is always interesting!
34) Mee Kiri and Kithul Pani / Sri Lankan Buffalo Milk Curd and Kithul Treacle (Vegetarian)
A common sight in Sri Lanka are terracotta coloured earthenware pots filled with mee kiri (buffalo milk curd) being sold at fruit stalls on the side of the road.
The process of making curd involves boiling buffalo milk for around two hours until some of the water content in the milk has evaporated and then leaving it to cool down to room temperature. Once cooled, the milk is divided into clay pots and small spoonfuls of curd culture (basically old curd) are added to ferment the milk, which is then covered and left for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Buffalo milk has a high-fat content, and the end result is curd that has a thick, creamy consistency and a slightly sour taste. Curd and kithul pani (where kithul pani is drizzled generously over the curd) is a common Sri Lankan dessert and breakfast and the sweetness of the treacle complements the tang of the curd marvelously.
35) Aasmi (Vegan)
“Asmee” by by Shehan Obeysekera is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Beloved by my sister, aasmi is a common New Year food in Sri Lanka and is usually eaten for breakfast. However, given its sweet taste, I’ve decided to include it in the dessert section.
The process of making aasmi is complicated: rice flour is sieved several times and then mixed with fresh coconut milk (which has also been sieved repeatedly to remove any lumps) to make a thick and creamy sauce.
Dawul kurundu leaves (leaves from the wild cinnamon tree) are then combined with a small amount of grated coconut and water and squeezed to extract a slimy cream coloured juice. This is then slowly added to the flour and coconut milk mixture until it develops a silky and shiny texture.
Oil is heated in a small pan and the aasmi mixture is poured into the hot oil through an aasmi spoon (basically a deep bowl-shaped ladle with lots of small holes - this is sometimes made out of a coconut shell). The mixture is drizzled all over the oil in a circular shape and then folded over into a semi-circle as it cooks.
Once cooked, kithul pani or caramelised sugar syrup is drizzled on to the sugar to decorate the aasmi.
36) Kokis / Rosette Biscuits (Vegetarian)
Another dish that always has a place on the Sri Lankan New Year breakfast table, kokis or rosette biscuits are the ideal tea time snack. Paper-thin, crispy and deep-fried to perfection, kokis is now considered to be a typical Sri Lankan snack, but actually may have been introduced to the island by Dutch colonisers.
Coconut milk, turmeric, rice flour, salt, sugar and eggs are combined to make a thick batter. A kokis achachuwa (a mould in the shape of a flower or a wheel) is then coated in the batter and then dipped into hot oil. The kokis is then gently shaken off the mould and left to fry until it turns golden brown.
Kokis are crunchy, yet their wafer-thin texture also makes them melt in your mouth and so it is super easy to eat twenty in a row without even noticing.
37) Watalappan / Spiced Egg Custard Pudding (Vegetarian)
My favourite Sri Lankan vegetarian food is influenced by the island’s different cultures and watalappan is a great example of this. Another delectable dish of Muslim Malay origin, this creamy, rich, coconut egg custard pudding uses a range of lovely warming spices that make it taste out of this world.
Kithul jaggery, eggs, ground nutmeg and cardamom, lime, pandan leaves and coconut milk are combined and then transferred to a dish. The dish containing the watalappan mixture is then steamed over a pan of simmering water on a stovetop (the traditional way) or baked in a water bath in the oven.
38) Pani Walalu (Vegan)
I seem to have chosen a load of desserts that are also common breakfast dishes for New Year, but nevermind. Pani walalu is pretty similar to the Indian dessert jalebi and is a yummy deep fried, sugar syrup soaked snack. One to satisfy your stomach but not great for your heart (or your teeth for that matter).
In Sri Lanka, pani walalu are made from soaked and ground urad dal (black lentils) which are combined with rice flour and all-purpose flour and left to ferment for 12 hours. Salt and coconut milk are added to make the mixture into a thick paste that is suitable for piping.
Like lavariya, making pani walalu takes some skill, because the chef has to pipe the batter in circular motions over hot oil. Once fried till golden, the pani walalu are dunked in heated kithul treacle for a few minutes until they have absorbed some of the syrupy sweet goodness.
39) Kavum / Oil Cakes (Vegan)
"Kevum" by Shehan Obeysekera is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Vegans all over the world know all about adding oil to cakes as a substitute for butter and Sri Lankans have been doing this for like... forever.
Like many Sri Lankan desserts kavum are deep-fried and traditionally made from kithul palm treacle, coconut milk and rice flour. There are actually numerous varieties of kavum that feature all sorts of ingredients from sesame seeds and saffron to cumin and fennel.
The most common type of kavum in Sri Lanka is konde kavum (hair cake), named because the top of the cake is shaped like the bun of a Sri Lankan woman. The batter for this oil cake is flavoured with cardamom and salt and then a spoonful or two is added to hot oil.
The konde/hair part of the cake is made when the centre of the cake is pressed gently, allowing the uncooked batter in the middle to rise up, but a lot of skill and shaping with a skewer is involved to make the ‘hair’ part of the cake perfect.
40) Kiri Appa and Pani Appa / Milk and Honey Hoppers (Vegan)
If you thought that appa/hoppers was a concept that couldn’t get any better, let me introduce you to their dessert versions.
For kiri appa, the cooked hopper is topped with thick coconut milk and palm sugar. In pani appa, kitul palm treacle or grated jaggery is added to the batter, making the appa taste richer and sweeter and also giving them a beautiful golden hue. The addition of the treacle makes the hoppers sticky and much softer so they are usually served folded in half.
41) Bibikkan / Sri Lankan Coconut Cake (Vegetarian)
If all these desserts are a little bit too fried or ‘out there’ for your tastes, the good news is that Sri Lankans make more orthodox desserts like cake too!
Moist, rich and treacly, the origins of bibikkan can be traced back to Portuguese colonisers and the Sri Lankan Muslim Malay community.
You can find bibikkan as part of a New Year breakfast table spread during Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April (because we love a bit of double New Year celebrations) but it is also common to find it at Christmas because the mixture of sugar and spices in this cake makes it the ultimate Christmas day dessert. Christmas pudding and cake can’t help but take a back seat.
This luxurious Sri Lankan cake is made by melting grated jaggery in a pan and then simmering it until it thickens after which a whole range of spices and grated coconut are added. It’s the spices that make this cake taste like Christmas: we’re talking crushed cardamom pods, roasted fennel seeds, ginger and lime rinds, one or two cloves, ground cinnamon and just a smattering of salt.
The jaggery-spice-mixture is left to cool and then semolina, flour and more ‘Christmassy’ ingredients are stirred in: chopped dates, preserved melon, candied peel, raisins, cashew nuts, plus rose and vanilla essence. Egg yolks and whites that have been beaten separately are finally folded in before it goes into the oven.
And the result? A fragrantly spiced, indulgent, treacly fruitcake that is basically irresistible.
42) Kiri, Rulan and Kaju Aluwa / Milk Toffee, Semolina and Cashew Nut Toffee (Vegetarian and Vegan options)
Sri Lankan kadju aluwa
It’s finally time for good old condensed milk to make an appearance. I used to love condensed milk in my tea and coffee when I was living in Malaysia and whilst adding it to drinks isn’t a Sri Lankan thing, I am happy to say that it features in some of our desserts.
Kiri aluwa is basically Sri Lankan candy with a spiced twist. Sugar is heated together with a little water and then combined with condensed milk, crushed cardamom and butter. When the mixture turns golden brown and starts to bubble, chopped cashew nuts, vanilla essence and rosewater are added and then it is poured into a flat baking sheet to cool. It is usually served in small squares.
Sri Lankan kiri aluwa
Rulan aluwa follows a similar recipe. Semolina is roasted in a pan and then mixed with toasted coconut, butter, sugar, ground cardamoms, roasted cashew nuts, kithul treacle and salt.
Rulan aluwa - isn’t it pretty?
Whilst kiri and rulan aluwa aren’t vegan, I am happy to say that some aluwa variants, such as kadju aluwa are. Kadju aluwa is made by roasting rice flour and then combining it with a syrup made from sugar and water. Ground cardamom and fennel plus chopped cashew nuts are added and everything is mixed together to make a stiff dough. The dough is then shaped into a rectangle and left to cool before being cut into rectangular or diamond-shaped pieces to serve.
43) Kalu dodol (Vegan)
"dodol" by Premshree Pillai is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
Wait, there’s more than one type of Sri Lankan candy! Kalu dodol is another dessert of Malay origin (although this is sometimes disputed with some people saying that this dessert was brought by Indonesian settlers or introduced by Portuguese colonisers). Whilst we don’t know the real beginnings of this desert, we do know that various versions of this vegan-friendly sweet treat exist in Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and beyond.
Making kalu dodol is a time-consuming process, so if you get to try this sweet in Sri Lanka, pay your respects to the chef: they’ve been slaving over a stove for hours.
Coconut milk and grated jaggery are mixed together and boiled until the mixture has thickened and the amount of liquid has halved. Rice flour, chopped cashew nuts and crushed cardamom seeds are added and then the loooong process of stirring the mixture begins. The kalu dodol mixture has to be stirred continuously while it is simmering to stop it from burning or sticking to the sides and bottom of the pan.
At some point, maybe around an hour into the stirring, the mixture becomes shiny and has a texture similar to jelly. It will also have a layer of oil floating on top of it - this oil actually needs to be removed repeatedly as the mixture separates.
All this stirring and oil removal can take up from two to nine hours, until the kalu dodol has reached an appropriate level of thickness (and the person cooking has developed biceps like The Hulk).
The kalu dodol is poured into a shallow tray, flattened and left to cool before being cut into squares or diamond pieces.
Based on all this, I think I’d much rather eat the dodol than have anything to do with making it.
Drinks
Most drinks around the world are vegetarian or vegan and the same applies to Sri Lanka. While you can get all your regular drinks such as Coke, Pepsi, etc. here, there are some uniquely Sri Lankan drinks that you should try.
44) Sri Lankan Tea (Vegan and vegetarian options)
In my house, we have tea in the morning, tea after breakfast, sometimes after lunch and then in the afternoon around 5.00pm. Sri Lankans' lives essentially revolve around multiple cups of tea. As such, it would be considered a major crime to travel all the way to the land of tea and then miss out on actually having any.
People say that Sri Lanka ships its highest quality tea abroad, but as something of a tea connoisseur (Yorkshire Gold anybody?), I’ve enjoyed plenty of cups of tea in Sri Lanka and can quite honestly say that it is damn good.
Milk tea is the most commonly served beverage. Here the tea comes with milk and LOTS of sugar (if you’re worried about your teeth or your waistline, make sure to ask for it without sugar).
Plain tea (basically tea without milk) is also common and a great way to really taste the flavour of the strong black tea. A piece of hakuru (jaggery) with a cup of plain tea is simple yet unbelievably satisfying.
45) Thambili / King Coconut Water (Vegan)
Sri Lankans use coconut in all sorts of ways, so it isn’t all that surprising to find out that they drink the water as well.
Thambili is the coconut water from the bright orange coloured king coconuts that are sold everywhere in Sri Lanka and are actually indigenous to the island.
Not only is this sweet coconut water the perfect thing to quench your thirst on a typically blisteringly hot day in Sri Lanka but thambili is actually very good for you. Packed to the brim with vitamins (pretty much all the Bs and Vitamin C to boot), electrolytes, potassium, calcium and magnesium plus purported anti-aging properties, thambili is the ultimate health elixir.
Sri Lanka has apparently cottoned on to this, because now ‘King Coconut Water’ is being bottled and sold as the post-workout drink for gym-goers and health-conscious peeps at mega prices.
Do yourself a favour: the next time you are at a roadside stall, grab a dirt-cheap king coconut, get the guy to lop the top off it and drink it straight, just like God intended. It’s more environmentally friendly too.
46) Pol Ra / Coconut Toddy or Palm Wine (Vegan)
"File:Toddy Bottle and Glass.jpg" by Dhruvarahjs at ml.wikipedia is licensed with CC BY 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Another drink made from the humble coconut, but this one is alcoholic. Pol ra is made from the fermented sap of the coconut flower (there are also other types of toddy such as thal ra and kithul ra, which are made from other plants).
Making toddy is a dangerous business: men called toddy tappers climb coconut trees in the early hours of the morning and use a tightrope, known as an athura, to move between the trees and extract the sap from the coconut flowers. Given the lack of safety equipment, the threadbare ropes, weather conditions and the slippery palm tree trunks, this isn’t a job that many choose to do as a fall from that height is likely to be fatal.
A jug is fastened to the cut coconut flower and left overnight to collect the sap. It begins to ferment immediately due to the yeast left in the jug and its naturally high sugar content and turns into sweet toddy (between 4%-6% alcohol) within a couple of hours.
47) Arrack / Dark Coconut Rum (Vegan)
Fancy something stronger? Well, when toddy is left to ferment for a bit longer, the result is arrack.
Fermented toddy is mixed with water and then poured into large wooden barrels, where it is left to ferment further. It is then distilled several times until it reaches an alcohol content of between 33% to 50%. The end result is a sweet drink that tastes like coconut, rum and whisky.
Navigating the various liquor brands and prices in Sri Lanka can be a bit overwhelming and it is tempting to choose a cheap bottle of arrack, especially if you just want to give it a try. Don’t make this mistake! It’s best to try a premium brand (like DCSL or VSOA) because cheaper brands are often mixed with neutral spirits. You can try Sri Lankan arrack neat or have it like a real Lankan, with coke and a squeeze of lime juice. Preferably lying in a hammock or on a beach. Or both.
We had arrack cocktails at our wedding and they went down a storm! Just make sure you don’t need to be productive the next day.
48) Portello (Vegan)
To Vincent’s dismay, I like to refer to Portello as the ‘Sri Lankan Vimto’ (further apologies to all my Mancunian readers. Forgive me).
Portello can best be described as a soft drink legacy of the British Empire. Believed to have originated in London during the 18th century, this purple coloured beverage tastes a little like blackcurrant and grapes and is an excellent afternoon thirst quencher. Portello is all about nostalgia for me as it reminds me of childhood trips to Sri Lanka in the 1980s.
49) Ginger Beer (Vegan)
Sweet, spicy, good for digestion and the perfect complement to Sri Lankan food, ginger beer really is the shizzle. Referring to this as ‘beer’ isn’t correct as this is really a ginger flavoured fizzy drink.
The most famous brand in Sri Lanka is EGB or Elephant Ginger Beer made by the brand Elephant House. They’ve apparently been using the same recipe since 1896 and unlike other ginger beers, theirs uses 100% natural ginger.
EGB is also known for supporting small and medium-scale farmers in Sri Lanka so you can enjoy this drink knowing you’re doing your bit to help people too!
You can also find homemade ginger beer in certain places: expect the taste to be stronger and less sweet than commercially available drinks.
50) Lion Lager
Vincent would say that nothing quenches his thirst on a sweltering Sri Lankan day like a good old Lion Lager aka Sri Lanka’s Number One Beer.
Another hangover of British colonisation, Lion Lager was born in 1860: the brainchild of a British planter, Sir Samuel Baker, who established a home brewery in the cooler hill country of Nuwara Eliya. Commercial brewing started in 1881 and nowadays you can find a variety of Lion branded drinks in addition to the lager, including a stout and a stronger beer simply named Lion Strong.
Taste-wise Lion lager is a mild flavoured beer that is slightly sweet, with hints of fruit and caramel. Paired with some roasted cashew nuts, it’s the perfect sundowner.
And that’s a wrap! This is by no means an exhaustive list of vegan and vegetarian Sri Lankan food that you can try - as I mentioned, Sri Lankans can curry just about everything so there are plenty of dishes that I haven’t included here, including radish, jackfruit seed and banana flower curry, plus even more desserts! But hopefully, this should give you a taste of all the amazing food that is available on this island that is suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Happy eating!
We hope you enjoy Sri Lankan food as much as we do. Check out more posts on all things Sri Lanka here.
Looking for more travel inspiration? Click here to discover more of our favourite places around the world.
Want more like this?
FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURES ON INSTAGRAM
