Standard foods are spicy and it is advised to approach curries with caution.
There are many vegetables, fruits, meats and seafoods. Continental, Chinese, Indian and Japanese menus are available in Colombo. A speciality is basic curry, made with coconut milk, sliced onion, green chilli, aromatic spices such as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and saffron and aromatic leaves. Stringhoppers are steamed circlets of rice flour, a little more delicate than noodles or spaghetti. Jaggery is a fudge made from the crystallised sap of the kitul palm.