ආයුබෝවන් · The Spice Coast Table

Sri Lankan Cooking Without Vegetable Oil

Along Sri Lanka's spice coast, a curry is built layer by layer: mustard seed and curry leaf bloomed in coconut oil, meat simmered low in coconut milk, rice cooked plain so it can carry the sauce. This is home cooking from the island, written down the way generations of kitchens have made it, with coconut oil, ghee, and butter, never a drop of refined vegetable oil.

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Pol Thel✶ Ghee✶ Butter
A warmly plated Sri Lankan curry dish on a dark table
✶ Kukul Mas Curry
From the recipe collection
Pol Thel

Coconut and Ghee First

The island larder is built on coconut oil pressed from the fruit and ghee clarified slowly over low heat. Every curry, sambal, and griddle bread in this collection begins with one of them, never with a refined seed oil.

Hemin

Slow Simmered, Never Rushed

A good curry is ready when the coconut milk has reduced to a glossy gravy and the spices have had time to speak. We cook the village way, over patient heat, roasting and grinding by hand.

Uncompromising

Never Vegetable Oil

No seed oils, no shortcuts. Only the traditional fats that home kitchens along the coast and up in the hill country have trusted for generations.

✶
From the Island Table

Sri Lankan Recipes

Six dishes from the coast and the hill country, each cooked with the honest fats that bring out the best in every spice.

Curry Kukul Mas Curry, tender chicken in a deep coconut milk sauce

Kukul Mas Curry

Sri Lankan chicken curry in coconut milk

1 hr 15 min·4 servings·Medium

The dish that sits at the center of nearly every island table. Chicken browned in coconut oil, built up with roasted curry powder, and finished in coconut milk until the gravy turns thick and dark.

Ingredients

  • 1.2 kg chicken pieces, on the bone
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 thumb ginger, grated
  • 2 tbsp roasted Sri Lankan curry powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 cinnamon stick, a few curry leaves and a pandan leaf
  • 400 ml coconut milk, thick and thin separated
  • Salt to taste, and lime for serving

Instructions

  1. Warm the coconut oil in a heavy pot and fry the onion, garlic, and ginger until soft and fragrant.
  2. Add the cinnamon, curry leaves, and pandan leaf, and let them bloom in the hot oil for a minute.
  3. Stir in the curry powder and turmeric, then add the chicken and turn until well coated.
  4. Pour in the thin coconut milk, season with salt, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
  5. Add the thick coconut milk and continue simmering gently for 15 to 20 minutes until the gravy deepens in color.
  6. Taste and adjust salt, then rest the curry for 10 minutes before serving.
  7. Serve with steamed rice and a squeeze of lime.
Rice & Lentil Parippu, a red lentil curry served over steamed rice

Parippu with Rice

Red lentil curry over steamed rice

40 min·4 servings·Easy

The quiet backbone of the island's rice and curry table. Red lentils simmered soft in coconut milk, tempered with mustard seed and curry leaf, and spooned generously over plain rice.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 green chilies, split
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil, for the tempering
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • A sprig of curry leaves
  • Salt to taste, and 2 cups steamed white rice, to serve

Instructions

  1. Bring the lentils, water, turmeric, half the onion, and the green chilies to a boil, then simmer 15 minutes until soft.
  2. Lightly mash the lentils with the back of a spoon for a creamier texture.
  3. Stir in the coconut milk and salt, and simmer gently 5 more minutes without letting it boil hard.
  4. In a small pan, warm the coconut oil and fry the mustard seeds until they pop.
  5. Add the remaining onion and the curry leaves, and fry until the onion turns golden.
  6. Pour the hot tempering over the lentils and stir through.
  7. Serve warm, spooned over steamed rice.
Sambal Pol Sambol, a fresh grated coconut relish with chili and lime

Pol Sambol

Fresh coconut sambal with chili and lime

15 min·4 servings·Easy

The bright, sharp side that meets almost every island plate. Freshly grated coconut pounded with chili, shallot, and lime, no oil anywhere in sight.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh grated coconut (or thawed frozen)
  • 2 to 3 dried red chilies, or 1 tsp chili flakes, to taste
  • 1 small red onion or shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp paprika, for color
  • Juice of 1 to 2 limes
  • 1 tsp Maldive fish flakes (optional)
  • Salt to taste
  • A few curry leaves, finely chopped (optional)
  • A small piece of ginger, grated (optional)
  • A mortar and pestle, or a food processor

Instructions

  1. Pound the chilies, onion, and a pinch of salt together until roughly broken down.
  2. Add the grated coconut and paprika and continue pounding until the mixture turns a pale rose color.
  3. Work in the Maldive fish flakes and ginger, if using, and pound just until combined.
  4. Squeeze in the lime juice and mix well with your hand or a spoon.
  5. Taste and adjust salt, chili, and lime until the balance feels bright and sharp.
  6. Serve fresh, alongside rice and curry or warm hoppers.
Griddle Egg hoppers, bowl shaped rice pancakes with a soft egg center

Egg Hoppers

Appa, fermented rice and coconut bowls

2 hr (plus overnight ferment)·4 servings·Medium

Lacy, bowl shaped pancakes with a soft egg set into the center, cooked in a small curved pan lightly greased with coconut oil until the edges turn crisp and the middle stays tender.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rice flour
  • 1/2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 cup warm water, as needed
  • Salt to taste
  • 4 to 6 eggs, one per hopper
  • Coconut oil, for greasing the pan
  • A small hopper pan (appachatti) or a small rounded wok
  • A lid that fits the pan

Instructions

  1. Whisk the rice flour, yeast, sugar, and salt, then stir in the coconut milk and enough warm water to make a thin, pourable batter.
  2. Cover and let the batter ferment overnight, or at least 4 hours, until bubbly.
  3. Heat the hopper pan over medium heat and wipe it with a little coconut oil.
  4. Swirl in a small ladle of batter, tilting the pan quickly so it climbs the sides into a thin bowl shape.
  5. Crack an egg into the center, cover with the lid, and cook 2 to 3 minutes until the edges turn golden and lacy and the egg sets.
  6. Loosen gently with a thin spatula and lift out onto a plate.
  7. Serve warm with pol sambol and a curry from this collection.
Vegetable Wattakka curry, a golden pumpkin curry in coconut milk

Wattakka Curry

Pumpkin curry in coconut milk

45 min·4 servings·Easy

A golden, gently sweet curry from the vegetable side of the table. Pumpkin simmered soft in coconut milk with turmeric, curry leaf, and a little dried chili for warmth.

Ingredients

  • 800 g pumpkin, peeled and cubed
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 small onion, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 dried red chili, or 1/2 tsp chili flakes
  • A sprig of curry leaves
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 250 ml coconut milk
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Warm the coconut oil in a pot and fry the mustard seeds until they pop.
  2. Add the onion, garlic, and curry leaves, and fry gently until the onion softens.
  3. Stir in the turmeric and chili, then add the pumpkin and turn to coat in the spiced oil.
  4. Pour in the coconut milk, season with salt, and bring to a gentle simmer.
  5. Cover and cook 20 to 25 minutes until the pumpkin is tender but still holds its shape.
  6. Uncover and simmer a few minutes more to thicken the sauce lightly.
  7. Serve warm alongside rice and a curry from this collection.
Sweet Watalappan, a steamed coconut and jaggery custard with cashews

Watalappan

Steamed coconut and jaggery custard

1 hr·6 servings·Medium

The island's beloved festival sweet. A dense, spiced custard of coconut milk and melted jaggery, steamed low and slow until it sets to a soft, wobbling richness.

Ingredients

  • 200 g kithul or dark jaggery, chopped
  • 100 ml water
  • 400 ml thick coconut milk
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 pinch salt
  • A few cashews, roughly chopped, for topping
  • Butter, for greasing the steaming dish
  • A steamer or a wide pot with a lid

Instructions

  1. Melt the jaggery with the water over low heat until dissolved, then strain and let it cool slightly.
  2. Whisk the eggs gently, then stir in the coconut milk, cooled jaggery syrup, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt.
  3. Butter a heatproof dish and pour in the mixture, straining once more if needed for a smooth custard.
  4. Scatter the cashews over the top.
  5. Cover the dish loosely and steam over gently simmering water for 35 to 40 minutes, until set but still a little soft in the center.
  6. Remove from the steamer and let it cool to room temperature.
  7. Chill briefly before slicing and serving.
A rustic table set with warm home cooked Sri Lankan dishes
Our Kitchen

The Kitchen Behind Goarau

Goarau is a small online kitchen devoted to the cooking of Sri Lanka, the spice island where a curry is tempered in coconut oil, rice is the quiet centerpiece of the plate, and something sweet with coconut and jaggery waits at the end of the meal. We write these recipes down the way they are still cooked in home kitchens across the island, patiently, with whole spices and a generous hand on the fat.

Our only house rule is a simple one: coconut oil pressed from the fruit of the island, ghee clarified slowly over low heat, and butter where a recipe calls for it, and nothing else. Vegetable oil has no place at this table, because it never sat on the tables we learned from.

Ayubowan, and welcome to the table.