{"id":7068694,"date":"2026-09-27T23:36:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T23:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/sri-lanka-hill-country-go-for-the-tea-stay-for-the-curries-deborah-ives-solo-in-style\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T23:36:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T23:36:51","slug":"sri-lanka-hill-country-go-for-the-tea-stay-for-the-curries-deborah-ives-solo-in-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7068694","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Hill Country \u2013 go for the tea, stay for the curries\u200b \u2013 Deborah Ives, Solo In Style"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Sri Lanka is foodie heaven and a vegan paradise<\/span><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s mid-morning\u00a0and the train to\u00a0Nuwara Eliya is climbing through the lush, green countryside on its way to the hills of Sri Lanka\u2019s tea country. Since I boarded at Haputale the scenery has changed completely and I find myself\u00a0jostling with other passengers, hanging precariously out of the open carriage door as we wind our way through the undulating,\u00a0rough country risking my life to get the perfect photo. Yes, the tea plantations are impressive and that is why I\u2019m making the journey, but it\u2019s the manicured terraces brimmed to capacity with vegetable plots that are really getting my attention. I had no idea that Sri Lanka produced such an abundance of fresh produce but then I suppose there\u2019s a reason why the national dish is rice and curry and most of those curries are made from vegetables.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\"IMG_4862\" <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"IMG_4890\" <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Having spent my first week in Sri Lanka at the coast and eating some of the best seafood I\u2019ve ever tasted it was only during my travels inland that the pure joy of the vegetable curry really hit me. \u00a0It is a thing of great beauty and as varied in colour, taste, and texture as you could ever imagine. Deep purple beetroot, shiny\u00a0aubergines, delicate banana\u00a0flowers, all shapes and varieties of pumpkins and squashes, beans that are so long you could wear them as a belt, spinach, sweet potato, gourds that look like they\u2019re from another planet, there\u2019s no end to the list of vegetables that find there way into this national dish: curried using a fragrant mix of heat and spice \u00a0\u2013 think cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon \u2013 often with coconut milk, black mustard seeds and the addition of curry leaves to give that unmistakable Sri Lankan flavour.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was my guide who first introduced me to the rice and curry buffet. He insisted that we stop for lunch at a local place he knew: tucked away at the end of a hidden, bumpy track, the heady aromas and the sounds from the bustling kitchen hit us as we made our way inside. Greeted by a long table simply bursting with vegetable curries, rice, dahls, poppodoms, rotis and fiery coconut sambols, I was like a kid is a sweet shop. From then on it was rice and curry on a daily basis \u2013 not always of the vegetable variety, sometimes cashew nut, jackfruit, fish or chicken \u2013 I simply could not get enough and thankfully it was available all over the island.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018Aside from the flavours and textures, what I really love about Sri Lankan food is how succinctly it\u2019s an expression of a place: a cuisine that\u2019s grown out of the unique natural pickings to be found on the island\u2019 \u2013 Rosie Birkett<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On my return home I scoured the web to find authentic recipes that I could cook myself \u00a0\u2013 everything from mixing my own raw and roasted curry blends (used in Sri Lankan curries to add more depth of flavour) through to blitzing my own coconut flesh to make pol sambol. At this point I should mention that I don\u2019t even like coconut \u00a0\u2013 I cannot ever imagine eating a coconut sweet or cake and the thought of desiccated coconut in anything makes me gag \u2013 \u00a0yet here I was frying in the oil, grating it into sauteed, spicy cabbage and finishing curries with creamy coconut milk. And so far I have been pretty impressed with the results, even if I do say so myself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Recipes <\/a> <\/p>\n

Recipes by Rosie Birkett <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

To quote cook and food writer Rosie Birkett, \u2018Aside from the flavours and textures, what I really love about Sri Lankan food is how succinctly it\u2019s an expression of a place: a cuisine that\u2019s grown out of the unique natural pickings to be found on the island\u2019. \u00a0What a beautiful way to sum it up. I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Link to Rosie\u2019s Sri Lankan inspired recipes.<\/a><\/p>\n

Link to BBC Food for cabbage mallung recipe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like my Facebook page Deborah Ives, Solo In Style<\/a>\u00a0or join my Facebook group \u00a0Solo In Style: Females Over 50 Travelling Solo & Loving It<\/a><\/p>\n

You can follow all my travels on Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n