The beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka is regularly visited by numerous foreign tourists drawn by its varied attractions. Travellers to this country should undoubtedly take the opportunity to try out the distinctive local cuisine which offers many mouth-watering dishes. Genuine Sri Lankan foods are often painstakingly made using a number of traditional culinary techniques. Read on to find out more about experiencing this unique cuisine just as Sri Lankans would.

Whilst having a slight resemblance to other cuisines in the South Asian region, the island's food may be considered to be quite unique, offering an array of distinctive flavours and textures. Sri Lankan cooking often features ingredients like green leaves, vegetables, spices and herbs, although many other foodstuffs are also used in it. Numerous dishes, particularly meat and fish curries can be significantly spicy, but foreign visitors will often have the opportunity to request less spicy versions when dining.

Wherever you go in Sri Lanka there are likely to be people dining in the local manner using their fingers; you are bound to be struck by how dainty and skilful this way of eating seems! You should undoubtedly take the opportunity to try eating Sri Lankan food in this manner for an authentic local dining experience, though remember to wash your hands properly or use hand sanitiser before you begin. As you touch food with your fingertips, your brain receives an indication of its warmth and texture, greatly enhancing the pleasure of dining. You are likely to find that it is quite easy and enjoyable to dine in this way.

Rice and curry happen to be a Sri Lankan staple, commonly enjoyed for lunch or dinner, although some locals even eat it for breakfast. Typically, one of these meals would include a large portion of steamed rice, lentil curry, two or three vegetable curries and meat or fish. Rice and curry are regularly consumed in local homes, restaurants and eateries. An accommodation choice to consider where you could enjoy such culinary creations is the pleasingly located Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle Resort, which also offers an immersive cooking class where one can learn to make local dishes too.

Another very popular local food is the much-loved hoppers, which may be described as a pancake with a soft middle and a crispy outer layer much like a bowl. Hoppers are cooked within small woks with a batter composed mainly of rice flour with coconut milk. A version of this dish is the egg hopper which as its name indicates, has an egg cooked into it for additional dining pleasure. Hoppers are often eaten with lunu miris (a mixture of crushed shallots, chilli and seasonings) and curry. You can obtain it at innumerable food stalls and restaurants in Sri Lanka.

A rather different kind of Sri Lankan food is string hoppers which are basically fine noodle-like strings of rice flour formed into circular portions. String hoppers are commonly enjoyed with sambol (a zesty mixture of grated coconut, shallots, ground chilli and seasonings) as well as kiri hodi, a tasty gravy composed of coconut milk, spices and turmeric, in addition to meat or fish curry. String hoppers are popularly eaten for breakfast as well as dinner.

Your sampling of Sri Lankan culinary favourites wouldn’t be complete without trying out the ubiquitous kottu roti which is a commonly enjoyed street food in the island nation. This flavourful food is prepared with pieces of roti (a common flatbread composed of flour, salt and oil) as well as diced vegetables (typically carrots, leeks, capsicum and tomatoes), egg and seafood or meat. Interestingly, you could easily identify where kottu roti is being prepared by the clanking sounds made by the metal implements used by the chef!