Vegan Eats in Sri Lanka

We first visited Sri Lanka in 1998 and fell in love with the country, the people and the food meaning we’ve been back more than 10 times over the years. On our website you will find a selection of Sri Lanka posts with lots of helpful information. However, we’ve not been back for a few years so when the guys from The Veganary contacted us and offered to write a guest blog post featuring some of their favourite vegan eats in Sri Lanka we of course said yes! The Veganary is a global vegan community dedicated to collecting and sharing vegan related information in more then 65 countries and last year they spent a couple of months in Sri Lanka.

Idiyappam (String Hoppers)

This noodle delicacy is a commonly eaten as a breakfast food in Sri Lanka. The noodles are made from either rice or millet flour depending on the region and are usually served with a small side curry.

Kottu

Kottu In local Sinhalese means cut bread. This dish is made from chopped roti bread mixed together with seasonal vegetables / egg / meat. Be sure to ask for the vegetable version, to properly enjoy this flavorful Sri Lankan food.

Vadai

Vadai are small extremely flavorful bits that are a true staple in the Sri Lankan Cuisine. These fried snacks are made from yellow split peas (channa dal), lentils, curry leaves and spices. Perfect for taking with you on the go!

Appam (Plain Hoppers)

This delicious breakfast food is made from mixing rice flour together with yeast, salt and a touch of sugar. Thus, creating a plain rice pancake. Their strange shape is derived from the local appachatti pan, commonly used to cook these tasty delights. Will usually be served with curry and sambol. Make sure you have not ordered the egg hopper as these are also popular in Sri Lanka.

Samosa

Similar to the Indian counterpart but often smaller in size, these samosas are commonly made from a wheat pocket filled with spicy potato, curry leaves and mixed curry spices. Be sure to check that this is the version you are trying, since unfortunately some of the places have also started to incorporate animal into them.

Saravita

Freshly grated coconut mixed with sugar, dyed in natural colors mixed with spices such as cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves wrapped in betel leaves. Usually eaten as a mouth refresher after food or as a desert.

If you are interested to learn more about vegan food in Sri Lanka, make sure to visit The Veganary where you will find local food guides, information about vegan snacks and ready made foods, translations of useful vegan words, and a forum to talk to other like minded vegans in Sri Lanka.