Alpe
A twisted sugar-stick made from different degrees of caramelized
sugar. |
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Aasmi
A filigree-fried batter made from the sap of the kududawula
tree and coconut milk and drizzled with treacle. |
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Arrack
Made from fermenting the sap collected from palm or coconut
flower, this is a heady, alcohol. |
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Auyrvedic
An alternate medicine that treats with herbal extracts and the
controlling of the diet. |
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Baduns
Usually baduns comprise of fish, seafood, meat and
game. These are fried in oil with onion, herbs such as pandanus
and curry leaves, red chili and tomato. |
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Breadfruit
This ruggerball-shaped fruit is a popular staple in Sri Lanka.
This maybe boiled and enjoyed with a side dish of coconut sambol
or sliced very thinly, fried and either sprinkled with salt
and chili powder or drizzled with sugar syrup. |
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Curries
Any ingredient, may it be a vegetable, tuber, leaves, potatoes,
dhal, fish, seafood, meat and game can be made into a curry.
Usually, but not always, basing coconut, the ingredient is cooked
with spices and herbs and seasoned with salt, and often tomato
and gambol. Stirring, this is cooked until aromas build up and
flavors are combined and taken off the heat before texture,
color and goodness of the ingredient is altered or lost. |
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Devils
Like its name, devils are a wicked preparation of meat, fish
or seafood, sautéed with onion, tomato, capsicum and
chilli. |
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Gotukola
Gotukola is a flat leaf commonly found in Sri Lanka. Kotukola
candgi and Kotukola sambol are extremely popular in Sri Lanka. |
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Halapa
A sweetened coconut paste wrapped in Kande leaf. |
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Jaggery
Palm sugar made from treacle – mostly palm treacle.
These hard, mound-shape cakes are nibbled with ginger tea or
grated and used in almost all Sri Lankan sweetmeats and desserts.
|
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Karalla
karalla is a tiny, bony fish. |
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Karapincha
Karapincha are sprigs of small, slightly pointed leaves. The
closest substitute would be bay leaves. |
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Kohila
This is a type of watercress plant. Both the leaves and the
shoots make popular dishes. |
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Kos
(Jakfruit)
Kos is a huge fruit, average in 1 ½ - 2 feet in length
with the middle circumference averaging around 1 foot. The skin
is tough, green and thorny. Curries and mallums are made from
the raw fruit as well as the seeds of the fruit. The ripe fruit
is extremely juicy and has the sweetness of honey. |
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Maldive fish
This is a seasoning used in almost all Sri Lankan dishes. Bonito
(also known as skipjack) is boiled, smoked and sun-dried until
rock-hard. Shavings or tiny chunks of maldive fish are sprinkled
into curries, sambols and mallums. |
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Mallums
Mallums are the cooked version of sambol. Quickly tossed in
a heated pan or wok, this is a very healthy and extremely delicious
‘rice-puller’. |
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Modjus
The difference between a modju and a pickle is that a pickle
is blanched in vinegar , where as a modju is blanched in very
hot oil and its base is mango chutney. |
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Polpala
Polpala is an herb, full of goodness and many beneficial properties. |
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Sambols
Sambols are the appetizers of a Sri Lankan meal. Very much like
the Thai, Sri Lankans also do not have courses in a meal. Rather,
the appetizers are enjoyed as part of the main meal. This is
a very simple mixture of onion, green chilli, salt, lime and
maldive fish often folded into thinly sliced vegetable such
as bitter gourd, or fish such as salted sprats. |
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Seeni sambol
A hot and sweet sambol made from shallots, garlic and
maldive fish. |
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Vadai
Deep-fried savories made from dhal or black gram flour. |
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Vaddha
Vaddhas are an ancient tribe in Sri Lanka. Living as one with
nature, these people are untouched by the modern world. However,
these people are by no means primitive. Their knowledge of the
forests they dwell in and their respect to nature constitute
them as a tribe of wise men. |
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