From rice and curry to the mighty kottu — the essential Sri Lankan food list you need to order tonight.
Sri Lankan cuisine is one of the most vibrant and flavour-packed in the world, yet it remains underappreciated outside the island. If you have been ordering the same things over and over on Daal Eats, this is your sign to branch out. Here are five dishes you absolutely need to try.
First: Rice and Curry. This is not just a dish — it is a philosophy. A mound of steamed rice surrounded by four to six small curries, a sambol, and a papadom. Every restaurant does it differently. The chicken, dhal, jackfruit, and ash plantain curries are the stars. Start here. Second: Kottu Roti. The sound of metal blades chopping shredded roti on a hot griddle is the soundtrack of Sri Lankan street food. Mixed with egg, vegetables, and your choice of meat, kottu is the ultimate comfort food, especially late at night.
Third: Hoppers (Appam). Bowl-shaped rice flour crepes with a soft egg cooked in the centre. Eaten with coconut sambol and dhal, they are a breakfast staple that doubles as a perfect dinner. Fourth: Lamprais. A Dutch colonial legacy — rice, two or three curries, a frikkadel meatball, and sambols, all wrapped in banana leaf and baked. The banana leaf imparts a unique flavour you can't replicate any other way.
Fifth: Watalappam. Save room for dessert. This coconut jaggery custard, spiced with cardamom and nutmeg, is the most elegant Sri Lankan sweet you will ever taste. Dense, aromatic, and deeply satisfying. All five of these dishes — and hundreds more — are available on Daal Eats from restaurants island-wide. Open the app and start exploring tonight.
