Sri Lankan food?

Question

I have tried making a couple of SL recipes but they always come out tasting more like Indian food. The dishes never quite taste like my local SL restaurant (yes, I am lucky to have one where I live. It's a small mom & pop place but fantastic food). Something is off somewhere and I cant quite figure it out? Do they use different spices or curry pastes? I havent seen any special SL ingredients/spices in my local Indian grocery. Any ideas or advice???

Answer 1

Are you using Sri Lankan garam masala?  It differs slightly from the basic Indian gm:  try it, I think that will solve the problem.

SRI LANKAN GARAM MASALA

Ingredients:

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 cinnamon stick

6 cloves

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

6 cardamom pods, crushed

6 dried curry leaves

Method:

Dry roast, let cool and grind to a fine powder. Store in the pantry for up to 1 month and in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.