Kandy is famous for its polos ambula (young jack fruit curry). This highly spiced dish is cooked for hours, often in a clay pot, till it becomes very tender. A well cooked polos curry is good enough with even just white rice or plain bread. Hath Maluwa – curry with 7 main ingredients – is another specialty of Kandy. Both polos ambula and hath maluwa are essential dishes in special menus such as Sinhala New Year and up-country weddings. Another curry that roots from Kandy is Rhubarb Leaves in Pickled Curry.
While oil cakes are the traditional sweetmeat throughout Sri Lanka Kandyans have their own specialties. While the rest of the country put a small knot on top of the kavum disc, calling it a konde kavum (hair-knot kavum) Kandyans make a small flat disc that is taut and crispy. Kandyans also make a larger disc called handi kavum. This is spicier and somewhat hot because of the peppercorns. Undu walalu is the Kandian answer to Indian jelabi. It is darker and crispier than jelabi – but every bit as delicious.
‘Alpe’ – a stick of twisty caramel of different degrees, favorite of bojoon.com is unique to Kandy and found exclusively in Delight, a corner-shop with spoils for your sweet-tooth.
