Sri Lanka spice tolerance building up - practical tips?
3 Answers from travellers
Building spice tolerance in-country: (1) Start with 'mild' curries - ask for 'not too spicy' specifically. (2) Coconut milk-based curries (kiri hodi, cashew curry) are naturally milder. (3) Rice absorbs heat - eat curry+rice ratio 1:3 not 1:1. (4) Curd (buffalo yogurt with kithul palm honey) is dessert but also cools heat immediately. (5) Cucumber salad, watermelon side dishes cool. (6) Avoid: chili sambols initially, ambulthiyal, kottu with 'spicy' request. Build up over 3-4 days - by end of week 1 you'll handle moderate spice comfortably.
Also: 'gotukola' (pennywort) sambol is very mild green herb salad - safe starter. 'Beetroot curry' also mild. Dhal is always mild. Order 1-2 curries you know will be mild + 1 that's more spicy to build tolerance. Milk after meal helps if you overdo.
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