From Jackfruit Curry to Kottu Roti and Fried Eggplant, 5 Must-Make Sri Lankan Recipes

Thanks to the growing UK street-food chain The Coconut Tree and US Michelin restaurants like New York’s Lungi and Staten Island’s Sagara and Lakruwana, Sri Lankan food is starting to enjoy a little more global popularity. And it’s about time.

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The cuisine from the South Asian island country is filled with bold and fresh flavors, thanks to its emphasis on ingredients like herbs, spices, vegetables, and fruits. But you don’t have to head to a restaurant to try it; check out some of our favorite vegan Sri Lankan recipes below, from baby jackfruit curry to kottu roti.

What is typical Sri Lankan food?

Heavily influenced by the country’s tropical climate and diverse cultures, Sri Lankan cuisine is a vibrant mix of flavors and ingredients. Like neighboring India, many of Sri Lanka’s traditional meals revolve around two key components: curry and rice. But within this category, there is a lot of variation. Fish curry, for example, is often made with fresh fish and a tangy curry sauce, often including tamarind and coconut milk. Spicy chicken curry is also popular, and so is dhal, a plant-based, lentil curry.

As well as curry, Sri Lankan cuisine also features dishes like hoppers (a Sri Lankan pancake with fermented rice flour), sambol (a coconut-based condiment), and kottu roti, which consists of chopped flatbread stir-fried with different ingredients, including rice and vegetables.

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RELATED: Portland’s Only Sri Lankan Restaurant Is Also One of Its Best Vegan Spots

Is Sri Lankan food mainly vegetarian?

According to Intrepid Travel, Sri Lanka is one of the most vegan and vegetarian-friendly countries in the world. Putting aside fish (it is an island nation, after all) and a little bit of meat, many of the country’s dishes are made with plant-based ingredients. There are polos curries, for example, which are made with young jackfruit, and pumpkin curries with coconut milk and spices. Samosas and vadai (fried cakes made of lentils) are also popular street food options.

“The smell of cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek, and cumin reaches out from every dish whether you’re eating in markets, restaurants, or houses,” writes travel blogger Jennifer Chandler. “Their food is a celebration of fresh fruit and vegetables like pandan, okra, beans, aubergine, cashews, beetroot and even potato.”

5 vegan-friendly Sri Lankan recipes

With these vegan-friendly recipes, Sri Lankan food is about to become your new favorite. From jackfruit curry to eggplant salad to kottu roti, there’s something to satisfy every palate.

Island Smile

1 Polos Curry With Baby Jackfruit

Jackfruit is cultivated across Sri Lanka, so it makes sense that the fruit would feature in some of the country’s traditional dishes. Take polos curry, for example. It’s a fresh, flavorful dish made with unripened jackfruit, which has a neutral taste but a nice meaty texture. “If you ask me what are some of the best foods to try in Sri Lanka, I’ll point you to this slow-cooked baby jack fruit curry, especially if you are a vegan or vegetarian,” says Jehan Yusoof of the blog Island Smile. “You’ll probably get the same answer from any Sri Lankan if you ask them to list their favorite food or what they miss most.”
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Hungry Lankan

2 Air-fried Eggplant Salad

Another popular South Asian ingredient, eggplant is a staple in many Sri Lankan dishes. In this recipe, Hungry Lankan air fries the vegetable with turmeric before combining it with ingredients like tomatoes, shallots, and lime juice to create a flavorful eggplant salad. This recipe also lists Maldive fish flakes, but these can be omitted to make the dish totally vegan. “This super easy, vegan air-fried eggplant salad is an adaptation of my mom’s Sri Lankan fried eggplant salad recipe that I love so much,” says the recipe developer Roshani Wickramasinghe. “You’d be surprised how nicely the flavors match together.”
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My Goodness Kitchen

3 Sri Lankan-Style Tofu Curry

If you love the idea of a fish curry, but not the actual fish part, then this Sri Lankan-style tofu curry is the perfect compromise. Inspired by traditional fish curry, it’s made with a mix of ingredients like tofu, ginger, chilies, coconut milk, and vine-ripened tomatoes. “Get ready to have your tastebuds tickled,” says recipe developer Amanda Logan of My Goodness Kitchen. “This Sri Lankan-style tofu curry is full-bodied and spicy with a drool-inducing kick of sourness.”
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Cheap and Cheerful Cooking

4 Vegan Kottu Roti

Made with cabbage, chopped roti, onions, ginger, curry leaves, and spicy curry sauce, this vegan version of the Sri Lankan street food favorite, kottu roti, is not to be missed. It’s packed with flavor and it’s incredibly easy to make, too. “Like almost everything in Sri Lanka, [this is] a real taste explosion,” declares the blog Cheap and Cheerful Cooking.
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Poppy’s Wild Kitchen

5 Gotu Kola Sambol Salad

This refreshing, bright, and nourishing gotu kola sambol salad, made with ingredients like grated coconut, Indian pennywort, and lime juice, is another example of a flavor explosion. Plus the recipe is nutrient-dense and quick to pull together. “Sambol is extremely popular in Sri Lanka, and I think it has some fun similarities to Italian gremolata and Argentinian chimichurri,” says recipe creator Poppy Hudson of Poppy’s Wild Kitchen. “It makes a sensational accompaniment to plain rice and grilled foods.”
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