Today we’re heading to the sunny island of Sri Lanka—the homeland of spices, coconut palms, and incredibly fragrant cuisine. We’re making two iconic dishes that locals eat every day: a street-food hit chopped to a rhythm, and a sour fish curry that has won over food lovers around the world.
🥘 Kottu Roti
Sri Lanka’s legendary street dish: chopped roti flatbreads fried on a blazing griddle with vegetables, eggs, and spices to the rhythmic clatter of metal spatulas. The result is a fragrant, lightly crisp mixture with a smoky edge from the intense heat.
Ingredients:
• Wheat flatbreads (tortillas or lavash) — 4
• Chicken fillet — 300 g
• Yellow onion — 1 large
• Leek — 1 stalk
• Carrot — 1 medium
• White cabbage — 150 g
• Bell pepper — 1
• Eggs — 2
• Curry paste (or curry powder) — 2 tbsp
• Turmeric — 1 tsp
• Chili pepper (fresh or flakes) — to taste
• Garlic — 3 cloves
• Fresh ginger — a 2 cm piece
• Soy sauce — 2 tbsp
• Vegetable oil — 4 tbsp
• Salt — to taste
• Fresh cilantro — a small bunch
• Lime — for serving
Preparation:
Step 1. Preparing the ingredients
Cut the chicken fillet into thin strips, 0.5 cm wide and 3–4 cm long. Slice the onion into half-moons 3 mm thick. Cut the leek diagonally into 5 mm rings (using the white and light-green parts). Grate the carrot on a coarse grater or cut it into thin matchsticks. Shred the cabbage into strips 5 mm wide. Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and cut it into 1×1 cm squares. Grind the garlic and ginger into a paste using a fine grater or a knife. Cut the roti flatbreads into roughly 2×2 cm squares—they should be uneven, which gives the dish its authenticity.
Step 2. Frying the chicken
Heat a wok or large frying pan over maximum heat until a faint wisp of smoke appears. Pour in 2 tablespoons of oil and let it heat for 20 seconds. Lay out the chicken in a single layer and do not stir for 1.5 minutes—the meat should develop a golden crust underneath. Turn the pieces and fry for another minute. Add the garlic-ginger paste, curry paste, and turmeric, stirring for 30 seconds until the spices release their rich aroma. The chicken is ready when it is no longer pink inside and is coated in a spicy golden crust. Transfer it to a separate bowl.
Step 3. Frying the vegetables
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the same pan. Add the onion and leek, frying for 2 minutes over high heat and stirring constantly with a wooden spatula. Add the carrot, cabbage, and pepper, and fry for another 3 minutes, stirring vigorously every 30 seconds. The vegetables should char slightly around the edges but remain crisp—the cabbage holds its shape, the carrot softens but does not fall apart. Pour in the soy sauce, add a pinch of salt and chili to taste, and stir.
Step 4. Adding the eggs
Push the vegetables to the edges of the pan, clearing the center. Crack 2 eggs into the center, quickly scramble them with the spatula directly in the pan, breaking the yolks. Fry for 20–30 seconds, until the eggs set into large curds, then begin mixing them into the vegetables with chopping motions. The eggs should cover the vegetables in uneven golden patches.
Step 5. Final assembly
Return the chicken to the pan. Spread the chopped roti flatbreads over the entire mixture. Take two metal spatulas (or one wide one) and start chopping the contents of the pan with sharp, quick movements while stirring at the same time. The goal is to chop the flatbreads into uneven 1–2 cm pieces and mix them evenly with the chicken, vegetables, and eggs. Fry for 3–4 minutes, stirring and chopping vigorously. The flatbreads should soak up the juices, brown slightly, and become soft without turning soggy—here and there, crisp edges should remain. Add the chopped cilantro and stir for the final 30 seconds.
Step 6. Serving
Take the pan off the heat. Pile the kottu roti onto a large plate. Serve immediately, while the dish is still steaming, with lime wedges on the side. At the table, everyone squeezes lime over it to taste—the acidity perfectly balances the richness and spice. Traditionally, kottu is eaten with a fork or by hand, mixing all the layers together.
💡 Fact: The name “kottu” comes from the Tamil word “kotu,” meaning “to chop.” Cooks at Sri Lankan street stalls put on a real show, rhythmically striking the blazing griddle with metal spatulas as they cook—this sound carries for a whole block and is the best advertisement there is.
🐟 Ambul Thiyal
A famous sour fish curry from southern Sri Lanka: large chunks of tuna braised in a thick sauce of goraka (dried Garcinia), coconut, and spices until the liquid has nearly completely evaporated. The dish turns out dark and concentrated, with a vivid tang and complex spice.
Ingredients:
• Tuna (steaks) — 600 g
• Tamarind (paste or concentrate) — 3 tbsp
• Shredded coconut (unsweetened) — 4 tbsp
• Yellow onion — 1 medium
• Garlic — 4 cloves
• Fresh ginger — a 3 cm piece
• Curry leaves (can be replaced with bay leaves) — 10–12 leaves
• Curry powder — 1 tbsp
• Turmeric — 1 tsp
• Black pepper (ground) — 1 tsp
• Chili pepper (flakes or powder) — 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds — 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds — 0.5 tsp
• Cinnamon (stick) — 1 (5 cm)
• Cloves — 3 buds
• Cardamom — 2 pods
• Salt — 1 tsp
• Water — 250 ml
• Vegetable oil — 2 tbsp
Preparation:
Step 1. Preparing the fish and tamarind
Cut the tuna into large cubes, roughly 4×4 cm—they should be substantial enough not to fall apart during the long braise. If using frozen tuna, thaw it completely and pat it dry with paper towels. Dilute the tamarind paste in 50 ml of warm water and stir until smooth—you should have a thick, sour, dark-brown liquid. If using tamarind concentrate from a block, soak 50 g of pulp in hot water for 10 minutes, then mash it with your fingers and strain it through a sieve, removing the fibers and seeds.
Step 2. Toasting the spices
In a dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the mustard and fenugreek seeds for 1–1.5 minutes, stirring constantly. The spices will begin to crackle and release a nutty aroma—the mustard seeds may jump slightly. Remove from the heat at the first sign of smoke. Add the shredded coconut to the same pan (with the heat off, using the residual warmth), stir, and leave for 2 minutes—the coconut should toast lightly and darken to a golden-brown shade. Transfer everything to a mortar or spice grinder and grind into a coarse powder.
Step 3. Preparing the aromatic base
Cut the onion into small 5×5 mm cubes. Grind the garlic and ginger into a fine paste using a grater or blender—you can add a drop of water to make the process easier. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, frying for 30 seconds until fragrant—the spices should darken slightly, and the oil around them will begin to bubble. Add the onion and fry for 4–5 minutes until soft and lightly golden, stirring every minute.
Step 4. Building the curry base
Add the garlic-ginger paste to the onion and fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the raw smell disappears. Add the curry powder, turmeric, black pepper, and chili, stir, and fry for 30 seconds—the mixture should become fragrant and a rich orange color. Add the curry leaves (or bay leaves) and stir. Pour in the diluted tamarind and 200 ml of water, then add the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. The sauce should thicken and take on a dark-brown hue with reddish highlights.
Step 5. Braising the fish (first stage)
Carefully lay the tuna pieces in the sauce in a single layer. Try to keep the fish as submerged in the liquid as possible. Cover and braise over the lowest heat for 15 minutes without stirring—the fish is delicate and may fall apart. After 15 minutes, carefully turn each piece with a wooden spatula or spoon. By this point, the fish should have turned gray on the outside and begun absorbing the color of the sauce; the liquid will have reduced by roughly a third.
Step 6. Braising with the coconut mixture (final stage)
Add the ground toasted coconut-and-spice mixture over the fish without stirring. Continue braising, covered, for another 20–25 minutes over the lowest heat. Every 7–8 minutes, gently shake the pot in circular motions (do not stir with a spatula!)—this distributes the sauce without breaking up the fish. The dish is ready when the liquid has almost completely evaporated, leaving only a thick dark coating on the fish pieces. The sauce should have the consistency of a thick paste; the fish should be dark brown, almost black, firm but not dry. If the fish starts to fall apart, lower the heat even further.
Step 7. Final adjustment and serving
Remove from the heat and let it rest under the lid for 5 minutes—during this time, the fish will absorb the last drops of sauce. Taste and, if needed, add salt or a little more tamarind to intensify the tang. Ambul thiyal is served at room temperature or slightly warm with boiled basmati rice and spicy sambal (chili paste). The dish can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days—the flavor grows even richer over time.
💡 Fact: Ambul thiyal is a traditional method of preserving fish in Sri Lanka, developed before refrigerators existed. The acidity of tamarind and the spices, combined with the complete evaporation of the liquid, made it possible to keep fish for several days even in a tropical climate. Fishermen along the southern coast took this dish with them on long sea voyages.