Most Popular Sri Lankan Dishes You Need to Try in Toronto

What are the most popular Sri Lankan dishes in Toronto? From kottu roti to biryani to string hoppers, this guide covers the must-try dishes.

The Most Popular Sri Lankan Dishes in Toronto

Toronto's Sri Lankan community has spent 50 years building a food culture that is both deeply rooted and endlessly varied. Of the full repertoire of Sri Lankan cooking available in Scarborough and the broader GTA, certain dishes have become consistently popular — ordered by everyone from Sri Lankan families seeking the taste of home to food-curious Torontonians discovering the cuisine for the first time.

Here are the Sri Lankan dishes you absolutely need to try in Toronto — and why each one matters.

1. Kottu Roti — The Undisputed Number One

Kottu roti is the dish that defines Sri Lankan street food culture globally, and in Toronto's Scarborough, it is the dish most likely to convert a first-timer into a regular. Chopped godamba roti stir-fried with vegetables, egg, bold spices, and curry — bold, hearty, satisfying, and utterly unlike anything else. The chicken version is the gateway; the beef version is the full experience.

2. Sri Lankan Biryani — The Celebration Dish

Sri Lankan biryani's combination of roasted spice base, distinctly earthy heat, and its full set of traditional accompaniments makes it an eating experience unlike any other biryani in the world. For first-timers, the pineapple curry alongside the spiced rice is a revelation — sweet, sour, creamy, and perfectly counterposed to the heat of the biryani.

3. String Hoppers with Coconut Sambol

Delicate steamed rice noodle discs with fresh-scraped coconut sambol — a breakfast classic that is the gentler, more meditative face of Sri Lankan cooking. If kottu is the party, string hoppers are the Sunday morning at home.

4. Devilled Chicken

Crispy fried chicken tossed in a sweet-tangy-fiery sauce with onions, tomatoes, dried chilli, and capsicum. The gateway dish for anyone who loves bold stir-fried food but wants something more interesting than standard options. Almost universally popular with first-time Sri Lankan food eaters.

5. Dhal Curry with Rice

The most eaten dish in Sri Lanka — red lentils cooked with coconut milk and turmeric, tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Simple, honest, and deeply flavourful when made properly. A perfect complement to any of the bolder dishes above.

6. Watalappam

The only dessert that needs to be on this list. Sri Lanka's steamed coconut-jaggery custard — rich, aromatic, deeply sweet in a non-cloying way — is the best introduction to Sri Lankan dessert culture and one of the great desserts of the world.

Order These Dishes at Blessed Kitchen

Every dish on this list is available at Blessed Kitchen in Scarborough — all prepared with house-ground spice blends and 100% certified halal ingredients. Order at blessedkitchen.ca or through Uber Eats.

Catering with Blessed Kitchen

Blessed Kitchen is a family-run halal Sri Lankan & Indian kitchen in Scarborough, catering across the GTA from $20 per person (20-guest minimum) — biryani, kottu roti, lamprais and more, delivered fresh. Get a catering quote.

More on this: order halal breakfast spot any day we are open.