Rice & curry! Sri Lanka knows a great variety of dishes of which rice and curry is by far the most popular in the country.

Rice & curry dishes usually consist out of rice and a great variety of curry including at least one curry containing fish or meat and a number of vegetable curries such as dhal (lentils), potato, okra, pineapple and many more. The side-dishes include pickels, chutneys and sambol.

Next to rice & curry we find Lamprais which is rice boiled in stock with special curry with meatballs, all of which is wrapped in a banana leaf and baked.

We also find roast chicken and roast beef (British influence) and hoppers or egg-hoppers which can best be described as a kind of pancake and milk rice or sandwiches in the morning.

Sri Lankan food is very spicy, but usually toned down for foreigners. Volunteers seldom find the food too spicy and fully enjoy the local kitchen, especially due to mouth-watering fruit desserts and ice cream to finish the meal.

 
Above left: Typical Sri Lankan curry pots. Above right: Typical Sri Lankan rice & curry.

If you love the foreign local markets you will love the Colombo orphanage project. Here you are nearby a great food market with all its amazing variety of fruits and vegetables.

It is well worth taking your photo camera or video camera out to transform this great experience into a lasting memory.