Sri Lanka is home to some pretty amazing food, be it rice and curry, kottu, or anything else sweet or packed with spices. While we have things that are uniquely Sri Lankan as a whole, we also have a few dishes which are kind of exclusive to each ethnic community within the country — and I say 'exclusive', because that's what each community is known and loved for. For example Christmas, when Catholics break out the Christmas Cake, or Eid that brings about hot pots of biryani and watalappam. You get the idea - that's how you know who to approach when each festive season rolls around.
We decided it would be fun to do a piece based on what dish each ethnicity makes best, so here goes. Feel free to tell us your favourites or what we've missed out!
The Sinhalese
Kavili
Avurudu, nuff said. Deep fried delicacies like kevum, kokis, and aasmi are seasonal favourites, especially among the non-Sinhala community. Yes, kokis is something we got from one of our colonial ancestors, but it's so built in to our culture today that it's a big part of local celebrations.
Image courtesy of isrilankan.com
Ambul Thiyal
Best made with thalapath or tuna, ambul thiyal was originally a method of preparation to preserve fish. It's intensely flavourful, with a ton of spices thrown in and the fish is slow cooked for a while. It's apparently best prepped in a clay pot.
The Tamils
Pongal
Made traditionally on Pongal (as the name suggests), this includes predominantly a variety of pulses and rice. It's also sweet, with jaggery and raisins in the mixture, and texture-wise is almost comparable to kiribath. Temples make vats full of this, so if you wander into one during Thai Pongal, you'd be able to get a portion or two.
Image courtesy of www.rediff.com
Dosai
Other popular favourites are dosais, especially masala, and ghee dosais. We're rather biased towards the ghee dosai at this joint in Fort, because of how crisp, aromatic, and perfectly flavoursome it is. Combined with chutney and sambar, the ghee dosai makes for a light and filling meal. The best part is that you can get it at any time of the year, so no waiting for a festival to roll around.
The Muslims
Moors
The Moors have biryani. Despite also being an Indian dish, this is insanely popular especially during Muslim weddings and festivals in the country. It's popular with mutton, but chicken's a decent substitute too.
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