Complete guide to traditional Sri Lankan food — what must I eat as a first-time visitor?

Fellow food lover here — this is the answer I enjoy writing. Here is a genuine insider's guide:

Breakfast (7–10 AM)
- Egg hoppers (appa): bowl-shaped rice flour crepe with a fried egg in the centre. Eaten with coconut sambol and dhal. The best Sri Lankan breakfast, full stop.
- String hoppers (indi appa): steamed rice noodle rounds. Eaten with pol sambol (scraped fresh coconut with chilli) and curry.
- Roti with dhal: flatbread with lentil curry. Simple, filling, everywhere.
- Kiribath: milk rice cooked for special occasions (Poya days, New Year). Dense, rich, eaten with jaggery or lunu miris chilli paste.

Lunch (12–2 PM) — the main meal
- Rice and curry: not a dish but a philosophy. A mound of red or white rice surrounded by 4–6 curries — dhal, potato, jackfruit, fish, chicken, and always pol sambol. Order at a local "hotel" (restaurant). Cost: LKR 300–500.
- Jackfruit curry (polos): young jackfruit cooked with coconut milk and spices. Meaty texture, deeply flavoured. A Sri Lankan masterpiece.
- Ambul thiyal: sour fish curry (usually tuna) with goraka fruit. Dark, tangy, unforgettable. A southern coastal specialty.

Snacks and street food
- Kottu roti: chopped roti, egg, vegetables, and meat stir-fried on a griddle with a thunderous clanging sound. Smell it from 100 metres. Eat it at midnight.
- Isso vadai: fried lentil patty topped with whole prawns. Sold at beach stalls.
- Coconut roti: thick flatbread made with coconut. Eaten at any time of day.
- Wood apple juice (divul): acquired taste — tart, creamy, like nothing else. Try it at a roadside stall.

Regional specialties to seek out:
- Jaffna: crab curry (mud crab in thick spiced gravy), mutton rolls
- South coast: deep-sea fish curries, prawn dishes
- Kandy: kandyan-style rice and curry is milder and more fragrant than southern cooking
- Hill country: less fish, more vegetable curries, excellent wild boar occasionally available

Stomach-sensitive note: start with dhal and vegetable curries for the first day or two before going hard on the seafood and very spicy dishes. The spice level is genuinely high — "mild" in Sri Lanka is still medium by most international standards.