Rice and Curry: How to Eat a Sri Lankan Plate Properly

Rice in the middle, curries around the edge. Here is how to actually eat a Sri Lankan plate, and why mixing is the whole point.

The first time someone puts a Sri Lankan rice and curry in front of you, it can be genuinely confusing. There is a mound of rice in the middle and five or six small piles of different things around it, and no obvious instruction.

It is not a main and sides

This is the thing to understand. Those little piles are not side dishes and you are not supposed to eat them in sequence. The plate is a set of components and you are supposed to combine them, differently, in every single bite.

What is usually on the plate

Rice in the centre. A dhal, which is a soft lentil curry and the comforting anchor of the plate. A protein curry, chicken, fish or beef. One or two vegetable curries, perhaps beetroot, green beans or okra. A coconut sambol, which is grated coconut with chilli and lime, sharp and fresh. And often a papadum for crunch.

How to build a bite

Take a small amount of rice. Add a little dhal. Add a bit of your protein curry. Add a pinch of sambol. Mix it with your fingers or your fork, right there on the plate, and eat it. The next bite, change the ratio. The dhal softens the heat, the sambol cuts the richness, the curry carries the flavour. Every bite is slightly different.

The sambol is not a garnish

People push it to the side of the plate. Do not do this. Coconut sambol is the seasoning of the entire meal. It is what makes rice and curry taste alive instead of heavy.

On heat

Sri Lankan food runs hotter than most Indian restaurant food in Canada. That is fine and any kitchen will tone it down if you ask. But do try it as intended once. The heat is part of the balance, not an add-on.

Where to start

We are a family-run halal Sri Lankan and Indian kitchen in Scarborough and rice and curry is the truest thing on our menu. If you are ordering for a group, it is also the most generous. See our Sri Lankan food in Scarborough guide, or how to host a Sri Lankan dinner.