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Tuesday 12 April 2016

Hoppers, kottu & roti - Sri Lankan food


In Anuradhapura we walked into the old town for dinner at a relaxed local restaurant / take-away (we needed head torches though as there’s no street lights!).


At this unremarkable looking location we had a food feast!


First up was ‘hoppers’ (appa / appam). These are basically a Sri Lankan pancake! Its basically made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk. The mixture is then ladled into a small wok and swirled around to make a bowl shape.



Mostly hoppers are savoury, but also come sweet, however the local (and my!) favourite is ‘egg hoppers’. An egg is cracked into the bowl-shaped pancake.



The hoppers are then served with a spicy dipping sauce (‘lunu miris’).


There’s also another type of hoppers - ‘string hoppers’ which are made from a thicker mixture, shaped through a press to create thin noodles which are then steamed.

The next tasty treat was ‘kottu’ - the unmistakeable sound of its preparation (aka loud clanking metal on metal) leaves a lasting impression.



Kottu is a local favourite fast food. It looks like fried rice but is actually make with roti flatbread (specifically godama roti).

When you order a kottu dish the chef will fry and chop the roti with your chosen ingredients (e.g. meats and veggies).



The chopping is essential for chopping up the roti - banging their spatula and knives on the metal frying surface.


There's various alternatives...



After tasting, I chose my main dish of kottu with egg, veggies and noodles.



Delicious!

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