Amazing Curries of Sri Lanka
Words by bojoon.com

It is said that you can tell a culture by its cuisine.

It must be true for the curries in Sri Lanka catapults a holiday from fantastic to extraordinary. Sri Lanka – a land like no other – is abundant with vegetables, fruits, nuts, tubers, spices, herbs, fish and meat. Indeed, Sri Lankan food is a tribute to the land for its produce is always the best of its kind. Like the colors of the land, the food is an interesting weave of simple and complex with the entire spectrum of mild white and yellow curries, hot, hot red curries, spicy and aromatic brown and black curries.

The food in Sri Lanka has also been a witness to the traders, travelers, pilgrims, explorers and even conquerors who sailed from all corners of the ancient world into the busy hub of the then Sri Lanka. Each visit saw an exchange in wares and ways. This is especially evident in the food of Sri Lanka. Though it is said that Sri Lankans eat ‘rice and curry’, even the simplest menu consist of one or more sambols, mallums, fry-ups, devils, pickles, chutneys and mojus*.

Like the people of this wonderful tropical Island, who are friendly and hospitable, kind, gentle, and straightforward, Sri Lankan food is also devoid of sauces and grease, artificial colors, flavors and fragrances, and is cooked to retain its earthen flavors and natural nutrient values. Most of the produce are home-grown and are thus organic or nearly organic. The produce hence might be diminutive and even irregular in shape, but is without any artificially induced hormones or any other harmful chemicals.

It is true! Cuisine is a reflection of its culture. Sri Lankan food, like the Sri Lankan culture, is extremely accommodating. An individual curry maybe mild, hot or spicy, but Sri Lankan food is enjoyed as a collage of dishes of many flavors and textures. A typical menu consists of a mild curry, a hot or spicy curry, a dry curry and a curry with lots of gravy. Accompanied with this must be a fresh item like a sambol and fried item with perhaps a pickle or so. Mixed with rice, this creates a harmony between the mild and the hot and spicy. The degree of mildness or hot and spiciness desired lies totally in the mixture of curries and other accompaniments.

Sri Lanka is spectacular. There are many things in this tropical Island that makes it so – and its food is not the least of it.

* To know more about curries, sambols, mallums, fry-ups, devils, pickles, chutneys and mojus, do visit our glossary in www.bojoon.com