Delicious rice and curry is one of the many reasons to fell in love with Sri Lanka. Usually, Sri Lankan meals are incredibly colorful with several vegan curries ranging from yellow color to deep brown, including greenish vegetables and brightly colored sambals. Sri Lankan meal has many delicious dishes including vegan curries, side dishes, seafood dishes, and meat curries. This combination of different food types in the Sri Lankan meal considers as one of the healthiest ways of eating in the world.
As a tropical island with an abundance of many kinds of vegetables, the meals contain varieties of vegan curries. Lentils, nuts, green leaves, several kinds of veggies, and also fruits use to make various types of wonderful, tasty vegan curry dishes. Always more than 3 – 4 different curry dishes prepare for every meal. The availability of a wide range of delicious vegan curry dishes helps to enjoy Sri Lankan rice and curry every day without getting bored. Sri Lankan cuisine is extremely rich in taste and makes an impact across the globe. It has been mentioned as a top emerging food trend in the world in 2019.
Ingredients of Sri Lankan Food
Several ingredients including essential spices and coconut milk add to give the authentic taste to the vegan curries. Sri Lankan curries have a soft and creamy texture, because of the addition of coconut milk. In addition to that, Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, and pandan leaves make the curries rich in aroma and flavor.
This is the best news for vegan travelers. If you are planning a vegan trip, there isn’t any better choice than Sri Lanka! There is a huge food choice for vegans, which are creamy and tasty, spiced with authentic Sri Lankan curry powders. Here we have a specially created list of some mouth-watering vegetarian Sri Lankan delicacies, which are too good to miss during your trip to Sri Lanka. Hope everybody will taste these curry dishes and enjoy them.
1. Dhal Curry (Parippu)
The Dhal Curry is one of the staple dishes of Sri Lankan cuisine. Sri Lankan meal won’t be completed without the dhal curry. It is one of the most widespread delicious curries on the island. Dhal curry is made by cooking dhal with spices and adding coconut milk to make it a creamy and mildly spiced delicacy. This is an excellent dish that goes well with anything – from rice to roti, string hoppers, or bread.
It is one of the iconic dishes in Sri Lankan meals that can serve at any time of day. It is a simple and easy to prepare dish among all the other dishes. You’ll find it in every restaurant or homestay in Sri Lanka, at breakfast, lunch, as well as dinner. It suits well both kids and adults; kids love the mildly spiced dhal curry and enjoy it a lot.
2. Cashew Curry
Cashew curry is one of the tastiest vegan curries in Sri Lankan cuisine. Since cashews are widely available in the country, they use as a curry dish, and it favors many Sri Lankans. Cashews soaked in water and then cooked with spices and coconut milk. The nuts swell up while cooking and absorb the spices in the gravy. The cooked cashews become so soft, that they almost melt in your mouth.
Cashew curry is a very tasty and deeply satisfying curry, among all curries available in Sri Lankan cuisine. You’ll love this wonderfully delicious and fragrant dish once tasted. Remember that Cashew curry is a slightly more expensive dish among other curries available in restaurant menus.
3. Potato Curry (Ala Hodi)
Sri Lankan meals usually have a few mild dishes that help offset the spicier dishes. Potato curry prepares by adding only pieces of green chili to make a mildly tasted dish. It is a great companion in a meal to forget the heat of other spicy dishes. Potato Curry prepares by cooking boiled potatoes in thick coconut milk, adding onion, green chilies, and saffron. This is one of the favorite curries among both adults and kids in Sri Lanka.
Potato curry can be accompanied by almost any main course. Delightfully creamy with firm potato chunks in the gravy, this curry gives the best taste with string hoppers, rice, or bread. Many Sri Lankans enjoy it for breakfast as a companion with string hoppers. Since it isn’t spicy at all, it is a favorite dish suitable for even children.
4. Beetroot Curry
Beetroot curry is a richly flavored, colorful vegan curry in Sri Lanka. It makes kids happy, due to its contrasting deep pink color. The beets are cut into small pieces and cooked well with spices until the beets become soft. Then coconut milk adds to make the wonderfully delicious and colorful beetroot curry.
White rice and Beetroot curry is a nice combination of suits anybody who likes vegan curries. This curry is one of the best dishes for kids who love its nice color. The beets are nice and soft, and rich in flavor. Serve a good helping of beetroot curry into your plate that tastes so good with other curries.
5. Egg Curry
Egg curry is one of the widespread delicious curries in Sri Lanka. Although it isn’t exactly a vegan dish, it is an ideal dish for meat-less food lovers. It is a versatile curry dish that suits any main course, at any time of the day. The creamy Sri Lankan egg curry is an absolutely delicious one among the Sri Lankan cuisine. The gravy is prepared first by adding spices to coconut milk and then boiled eggs simmered in this curry-flavored gravy. Egg curry is so easy to prepare within a short time.
The spiciness of egg curry is varied on different occasions. Mildly spiced egg curry is tastier with string hoppers, while spicy egg curry goes well with rice, bread, or roti. An egg curry, coconut sambal, and string hoppers are widely famous breakfast menu in the country. A mildly spiced, delicious Sri Lankan egg curry dish is a perfect choice for egg lovers.
6. Jackfruit Curry (Kos Curry)
Jackfruit is the national fruit in Sri Lanka and it is widely used in Sri Lankan cuisine. It considers a miracle fruit, which suits to prepare different kinds of tasty dishes. The flesh of Jackfruit uses to prepare the delicious Jackfruit curry by cooking them with spices and coconut milk. This is a scrumptious, tasty vegan curry in the country. It is one of the delicious dishes you shouldn’t miss tasting in Sri Lanka.
7. Baby Jackfruit Curry (Polos Curry)
Jackfruits use for curries in different stages of ripeness. Polos curry prepares by using young jackfruit before they matured. Baby jackfruit curry has long been used in Sri Lankan cooking and it is a perfect choice for a delicious vegan curry. Bite-sized pieces of baby jackfruit cooked down until soft and tender, then combined with a variety of spices and simmered in coconut milk to make a creamy and yummy polos curry.
Lots of spices, including both roasted and unroasted curry powder, as well as chili powder, add to the polos curry to enhance the taste. Therefore, it is a little bit spicy flavored and it suits well for spicy food lovers. It has a meat-like texture and appearance, so it could almost pass for chunks of tender beef.
8. Breadfruit Curry (Del Curry)
Sri Lankans love vegan-friendly delicious breadfruit curry. Since breadfruit is widely available in the country, it is one of the popular vegan curries in local meals. The breadfruit is cut into cubes and cooked well with coconut milk and spices. Finally, it tempers with mustard and red chili pieces that make curry highly aromatic and tasty. The breadfruit pieces become so soft and the gravy becomes rich in flavor. This curry has a potato-like creamy texture and definitely a delicious dish to try along with plain rice. It goes well along with roti or bread too.
9. Mushroom Curry
Mushroom curry is one of the protein-packed delicious vegan curries in Sri Lanka, preferred by many people. It can cook in different styles. One style is mushroom stir-fry and the other one is spicy mushroom curry. Both are delicious dishes widely available in the country. Spicy mushroom curry is a delicious, spicy dish that suits well to taste with coconut roti. You may see there are many roadside huts selling freshly made coconut roti with mushroom curry. Don’t forget to try this authentic delicacy while you are in Sri Lanka.
10. Pumpkin Curry
Pumpkin curry is a widely available delicious vegan dish in Sri Lanka. Cubes of Pumpkin are slowly cooked with spices and coconut milk to make this tasty pumpkin curry. The curry tempers to enhance the taste with tempered onions, curry leaves, and mustard seeds. It is one of the irresistible dishes with a nice aroma and flavor.
This hearty pumpkin curry with tender chunks of pumpkin in thick, creamy curry is a healthier vegan curry in Sri Lankan cuisine. The mix of spices and coconut along with creamy pumpkin gravy gives your taste buds a treat. It suits a healthy lunch or dinner along with a few other curry dishes.
11. Bean Curry
Beans are a popular vegetable in Sri Lanka and bean curry is also a favorite of many people. It can cook in many styles, including stir-fried beans as well as bean curry. It is a widely available dish in lunch or dinner menus. Pieces of beans cooked fully in the thick coconut milk with spices. It’s quick to make, a delicious vegan dish with a nice taste. Bean curry isn’t a spicy dish, so it can be a good choice for people who don’t tolerate spicy food. It is a great dish for lunch or dinner along with other curry dishes.
12. Long Bean Curry (Ma Karal Curry)
Long beans are widely available in Sri Lanka and it is also a preferred dish by many local people. Both stir-fried long beans, as well as long bean curry, both are delicious. Pieces of long beans cooked fully in the thick coconut milk with spices to make the long bean curry. It is a great dish along with rice and other curry dishes for lunch or dinner.
13. Chickpea Curry (Kadala Curry)
Boiled and tempered chickpea dish is a famous breakfast menu in the country. As well, chickpea curry is an ideal vegan dish to enjoy with rice. The creamy, fragrant chickpea curry is one of the favorite dishes among Sri Lankans. The cooked chickpeas simmer in coconut milk with lots of spices to make this delicious chickpea curry. It is a perfectly spiced curry dish with a distinct flavor and aroma. Same as dhal curry, chickpea curry suits both adults and kids.
14. Ambarella Curry
Ambarella, also known as Jew plum, is a juicy, sour fruit with a fibrous pit. It can eat in raw, but when it is cooked with spices it becomes a delicious vegetarian dish. The Ambarella fruit peel, cut and cooked with lots of spices and sugar to make this wonderfully tasty and savory Ambarella curry. It is a nice combination of sweet and sour flavors. The sweet pieces of Ambarella in the delicious curry dish are quite an adventure for the palette. This sour, sweet, and spicy Ambarella curry dish goes perfectly with a hearty plate of rice.
15. Mango Curry
Mango is a very famous fruit in Sri Lanka that can be very easily found. Unripe mango is widely used to prepare delicious curry in many Sri Lankan households. Mangoes can be cooked in many ways, but the spicy mango curry is the most delicious one. Green mangoes are cut into pieces with the peel and cook well with a typical spice base until mango pieces become tender.
Mustard seeds, curry leaves, and many other ingredients add to make this highly aromatic and flavorful dish. Mango curry derives its sweet flavor from sugar which adds to sweeten it. This is an absolutely amazing, tasty dish combining all sweet, sour, and spicy tastes. It is one of the delicious vegan dishes which make the regular rice and curry a grand feast with new tastes.
In this post, we’ve added only the 15 of the best delicious vegan dishes among diverse Sri Lankan cuisine, but many more dishes are available. We will add more details about the best side dishes, meat dishes, and seafood dishes in future posts.
If you are traveling to Sri Lanka, make sure to try as many curry dish varieties as you can. Each curry has its own taste and you can discover new flavors you never had before. Enjoy each authentic Sri Lankan curry dishes and you won’t be disappointed. Whenever possible, try to eat rice and curry with your right hand! Mixing rice and curry with fingers enhances the taste of the meal a lot. Although it’s a local tradition, be a Sri Lankan for a while and enjoy the delicious curries by hand. Happy meal for everybody!
Text by Magnificent Sri Lanka. Images from Pinterest, Islandsmile, Tasteatlas, Flavor Bender, and Migratinology. All copyrights reserved by original authors.
