I want a composition on food habits in sri lanka
Answers
Sri Lankan cuisine has been shaped by many historical, cultural and other factors. Contact with foreign traders who brought new food items, cultural influences from neighbouring countries as well as the local traditions of the country's ethnic groups among other things have all helped shape Sri Lankan cuisine. Influences from Indian (particularly South Indian), Indonesian and Dutch cuisines are most evident with Sri Lankan cuisine sharing close ties to other neighbouring South and Southeast Asian cuisines.[1] Today, some of the staples of Sri Lankan cuisine are rice, coconut and spices. The latter are used due to the country's history as a spice producer and trading post over several centuries.
Dishes
Rice and curry
A Sri Lankan rice and curry dish.
Typical Sri Lankan dish of rice and prawns.
The central feature of Sri Lankan cuisine is boiled or steamed rice, served with a curry of fish, chicken or mutton, along with other curries made with vegetables, lentils, or fruits.
Dishes are accompanied by pickled fruits or vegetables, chutneys, and sambols. Coconut sambol is especially common, a paste of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish, and lime juice.
Pol sambola
Kiribath
Main article: Kiribath
Kiribath (lit. 'milk rice') is rice cooked in salted coconut milk until the grains turn soft and porridge-like. Generally eaten for breakfast, kiribath is also prepared on special occasions such as birthdays, New Years' and religious festivals. It is usually served with lunu miris, a relish made with red onions and chillies. During Aluth Avurudu/Puthandu, the Sinhalese/Tamil New Year, kiribath is served with sweets such as kavum, kokis, mung kavum, etc.
Kottu
Main article: Kottu
Kottu is a spicy stir-fry of shredded roti bread with vegetables. Optional ingredients include eggs, meat, or cheese. It was invented in Batticaloa and literally means 'chopped roti' in Tamil.
Hoppers
Hoppers
Main article: Appam
Hoppers (appam) are based on a fermented batter, usually made of rice flour and coconut milk with spices. The dish is pan-fried or steamed. The fermenting agent is palm toddy or yeast. Hopper variants can be either savory (such as egg hoppers, milk hoppers, and string hoppers), or sweet (such as vandu appa and pani appa).[2] Savory hoppers are often accompanied by lunu miris, a mix of red onions and spices.
String hoppers
Main article: Idiyappam
String hoppers (idiyappam) are made from a hot-water dough of rice meal or wheat flour. The dough is pressed out in circlets from a string mold onto small wicker mats, and then steamed.
Lamprais
Main article: Lamprais
A Dutch Burgher-influenced dish, lamprais is rice boiled in stock accompanied by frikkadels (frikadeller meatballs), a mixed meat curry, blachan, aubergine curry, and seeni sambol. All of this is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked in an oven. Lamprais is ideal for special occasions with a large gathering of friends and family considering its richness and the time it takes to prepare. Lamprais is cooked twice; first the rice and the entrees are cooked separately and later what is already cooked is wrapped in a banana leaf and baked in an oven, which makes it a unique recipe.
Kool
Kool is a seafood broth from Jaffna containing crab, fish, cuttlefish, prawns, and crayfish. It also contains long beans, jak seeds, manioc, spinach, and tamarind. The dish is thickened with palmyra root flour.
Pittu
Main article: Puttu
Pittu[3] are cylinders of steamed or roasted rice flour mixed with grated coconut.[4]
Roti
Gothamba roti is a simple Sri Lankan flatbread usually made from wheat flour.
Variants of roti include thengappu roti (Pol in Sinhalese), in which shredded coconut is mixed into the dough. Another variant is Uraippu roti (spicy roti), in which chopped onions and green chilies are used when making the dough.
Sambol
Main article: Sambal
Sambols are enjoyed with many dishes including curry dishes and string hoppers.[5] Sini sambal, Pol sambal, Lunu miris and Vaalai kai sambal are common sambols found in the country.
Malay Achcharu
Malay Achcharu also known as Sri Lankan Malay pickle is a dish that originated from the local Malay community and is now widely popular among all ethnic groups in the country.[6][7] It is a selection of veggies in a pickled sauce and blends sweet, sour and spicy flavours.[8]
Chinese chili paste
Chinese chili paste is a condiment eaten alongside Sri Lankan-style Chinese dishes.[9]
Babath
Babath or offal consists of the stomach of cattle or goats. It is cooked as a curry or deep fried and eaten with rice or more famously with Pittu. Its origins are associated with the Sri Lankan Malay community but it is very common among the Moor community as well. The preparation of babath also consists of Kodal or the instates of the animal.[10]
Sate
Main article: Satay
Sate is of Malay origin and has become a staple of the Sri Lankan diet.[11] They are served with peanut and chili sauce.[12]