My Typical Sri Lankan Lunch

What do I eat for lunch? Well, the typical Sri Lankan lunch set that is ordered for me consists mainly of fried rice, curry, some salad and a vegetable dish. Special mention is the the ton of rice that you get with these lunch packs. Ayayay...any rice lover like me would be happy. I remember a former officemate who once commented, "Tanja, you eat rice like our driver."

Well, I do love rice and I'm not bashful about it. Love it to the max. However, here in Sri Lanka, the rice meals proved to be way too much for me. Only a fourth gets gobbled up. Imagine that! What a waste I know. But unlike in Manila where rice is often in "one cup" portions, here it's like rice until you drop portions.

Chicken Biryani, dried fish and sambal, dahl, rotti, vegetables (Grand Cinnamon Hotel , Colombo)

Meanwhile in Batticaloa, the company driver Mohammad, surprised me when he paid for the lunch pack as seen below. It's similar to the one I had in Colombo but much more tasty. This was the best so far. Plus it's a quarter of the cost compared to the one I ordered at the hotel.

Chicken biryani, egg, tomato and onion salad, violet potatoes (In Batticaloa)

Despite their enormous portions of rice in ordinary meals, Sri Lanka, just like the Philippines is a net importer of rice. They import the rice from China and Thailand.