Spices are at the heart of Sri Lankan cooking, and it takes a deft cook to know which combination of spices (and how to prepare them) will allow the dish to sing.
Chef Peter Kuruvita shows how to perfect a king’s chicken curry and lime pickle, while O Tama Carey shows how it’s done with her recipes for crab curry, black braised beef brisket and cabbage mallung. And don’t skip out on that dhal recipe – it’s possibly the best of its kind.
Here are our best Sri Lankan recipes to try
Hailing from Sri Lanka, this vibrant and versatile condiment delivers a spicy-sour kick of coconut.
This brisket is rubbed with a deeply toasted black curry spice blend, then slow-braised with tangy tamarind.
One of our most popular recipes, this fast, fiery Sri Lankan fish curry balances warming spices with tamarind, coconut milk and tender white fish.
Chef Travin De Hoedt of Sydney’s Kurumba shares his family’s recipe for this South Asian staple.
From Sydney’s Flying Fish, this fragrant snapper curry pairs a creamy coconut sauce with fresh, chilli-spiked sambal.
A South Asian staple made more luxurious with two rounds of tempering, from fragrant spices to caramelised onion and chilli.
Hot, spicy and gloriously messy, this crab curry is made for getting stuck in with your hands.
Delicately spiced and ready in 40 minutes, these pipis bring together Carey’s favourite flavours from Italy and Sri Lanka.
Pork belly is slow-simmered with goroka, curry leaves, cinnamon and chilli for a richly spiced Sri Lankan curry.
Inspired by a deep-fried egg dish at Billy Kwong, O Tama Carey’s version comes with turmeric curry and seeni sambol.
Sweet, succulent prawns simmer in a fragrant Sri Lankan curry in this deeply comforting recipe.
Fresh coconut and warm spices feature in O Tama Carey’s cabbage mallung, a common dish in Sri Lankan meals. Serve it alongside her black braised brisket.
A warming coconut curry, fragrant with curry leaves, cardamom and cinnamon, topped with crisp-skinned snapper.
Made with whole limes, chilli and vinegar, this punchy pickle is worth making two weeks ahead. Perfect to sit alongside a good curry.
A Sri Lankan chicken curry with a royal backstory and an unexpected secret ingredient: sandalwood.
A creamy kefir curd meets roasted coconut, crisp apple and sweet kithul syrup in this refreshing Sri Lankan-inspired dessert.
This rich love cake recipe, fragrant with spices, made with semolina, cashew nuts and rosewater, has a fudge-like centre and lasts a good few weeks, getting better with age. What’s not to love?
Hoppers are thin bowl-shaped pancakes found in Sri Lanka. Made with rice flour, they’re excellent for someone with gluten intolerance and their shape makes them perfect to hold an egg and tasty curry gravy.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
