Recipes by region

Sri Lankan food changes every hundred kilometres — the dark roasted heat of Jaffna, lagoon cooking in the east, gentle hill-country curries and the sour seafood of the south. Pick a region and start cooking.

🦀 Northern Province

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Jaffna and the Tamil north — fiery crab curries, palmyra, and bold dry-roasted spice blends.

Jaffna Crab Curry (Nandu Kari)

The legendary fiery crab curry of the north, built on a dark-roasted Jaffna curry powder and fresh lagoon crab.

Northern Province ⏱ 1 h 15 min hard 🌶🌶🌶

Jaffna Mutton Curry

Slow-cooked goat or mutton in the dark, aromatic northern style — the Sunday-lunch centrepiece of Tamil households.

Northern Province ⏱ 2 h medium 🌶🌶🌶

🌊 Eastern Province

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Batticaloa and Trincomalee — lagoon seafood, odiyal kool, and coconut-rich coastal cooking.

Odiyal Kool (Seafood Broth)

Batticaloa's famous thick seafood soup — crab, prawns and fish bound with palmyra root flour, long-grain rice and lagoon flavour.

Eastern Province ⏱ 1 h 30 min hard 🌶🌶🌶

⛰️ Hill Country

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Kandy and the tea highlands — jackfruit curries, fresh vegetables, and gentler Kandyan spice.

Polos Curry (Young Jackfruit Curry)

A Kandyan classic — tender young jackfruit slow-cooked in roasted spices and coconut milk until it turns meaty and dark.

Hill Country ⏱ 1 h 30 min medium 🌶🌶

🏙️ Western Province

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Colombo and Negombo — street-food kottu, hoppers, lagoon prawns, and cosmopolitan flavours.

Hoppers (Appa)

Bowl-shaped fermented rice-and-coconut pancakes with lacy crisp edges — crack an egg in for the classic egg hopper.

Western Province ⏱ 30 min + 8 h fermentation medium mild

Chicken Kottu Roti

Colombo's favourite street food — chopped godamba roti stir-fried with chicken curry, vegetables and egg on a screaming-hot griddle.

Western Province ⏱ 40 min medium 🌶🌶

🏖️ Southern Coast

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Galle to Tangalle — ambul thiyal sour fish curry, cinnamon country, and beachside seafood.

Ambul Thiyal (Sour Fish Curry)

The southern coast's signature dry fish curry — tuna simmered with goraka until dark, tangy and intensely savoury.

Southern Coast ⏱ 50 min easy 🌶🌶

🇱🇰 Island-wide Classics

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Dishes every Sri Lankan household knows — rice and curry staples, sambols, and sweets.

Pol Sambol (Coconut Sambol)

The indispensable Sri Lankan condiment — fresh coconut, chilli, lime and Maldive fish, ready in ten minutes.

Island-wide Classics ⏱ 10 min easy 🌶🌶

Watalappan

The beloved Sri Lankan Malay steamed custard of jaggery, coconut milk and spices — festive, silky and not too sweet.

Island-wide Classics ⏱ 1 h easy mild

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