Voyageur Vol:1 | Page 37

V O Y A G E U R 36 By-P.K.H. Randima he culture differs from country to country. In Sri Lanka, there is unique culture and civilization inherited from the past. It is also important to mention that the country has an unique food culture with a long history. Sri Lanka is a food paradise and there are so many inheritable foods in Sri Lankan food culture. Food of Sri Lanka is hot and spicy, because of the different types of spices are mixed with curries and comprised pepper, ginger, mustard, tamarind, garlic, turmeric, lemon, curry leave, rampe, etc. Many travelers return to Sri Lanka because of Sri Lankan foods. Here are some traditional combinations with typical food items to Sri Lankan culture. Rice & Curry The meals of Sri Lankans are mainly based on rice. Rice is the staple diet of the Sri Lankans. Almost every household in Sri Lanka takes rice and curry as its main meal. Meat, fish and vegetables are prepared as curries. Onions, green chilies, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron are used to add flavors. A basic rice and curry requires one fish (or chicken) curry, two different vegetables, one portion of fried crispy stuff like 'papadam', a 'mallum' of chopped leaves and coconut, and a gravy or 'hodda' of spiced and cooked with T coconut milk. Mostly prepared curries are Dhal curry, Polos Ambula, Thibbotu Malluma, Polsambal, Fish ambulthiyal, cashew curry Egg Plant (Brinjol) achcharu, Gotukola sambal, Kos Melluma, Papadem, sweet chutneys and a vegetable curries. As well as there are so many sea food items in Sri Lankan cuisine like prawns, crabs and lobsters, tuna, seer and para fish etc. Hoppers with Lunumiris & Plain Tea In Sri Lanka hoppers are usually eaten with lunumiris while drinking a steaming cup of plain tea. And also we can see various hoppers like plain hoppers, egg hoppers, milk hoppers and honey hoppers. Jack fruit with Polsambal Jack fruit curry is favored by many households due to its exclusive taste. Being mostly home grown, it's natural and nutritious. On the other hand polsambal is a common dish. The specialty about Polsambal is that anything tastes good with it. String hoppers with Kiri hodi This combination will fill you smoothly during your breakfast or dinner. String hoppers are made in white or red rice flour. Kirihodi is typical Sri Lankan gravy that tastes good with anything if made to perfection. There is a saying in the local culture that if a girl is able to prepare this properly, she can cook any Sri Lankan dish. That implies how hard ] ????]\??Y? ???