Not spicy food in Sri Lanka, what to order and how to ask

Yes, you can eat well in Sri Lanka without chilli: ask for less heat when you order, choose the dishes that are mild by nature, and take the sambol on the side. Places used to visitors cook milder versions gladly, and at Ohana food is not spicy unless the menu says so.

Why is the food so hot, and where does the heat sit?

Sri Lankan home cooking uses chilli and black pepper freely. People who grow up with it carry a tolerance most visitors do not have, so a plate that is normal here can be too much on your first day.

It helps to know where the heat is. It is not spread evenly over the table.

• The sambols are often the hottest part. Pol sambol is ground coconut with chilli and lime. Lunu miris is red onion pounded with chilli: the word miris means chilli.
• Some dishes are spicy by design. Kottu, the chopped roti stir-fry, is one. A fish curry with miris in its name, like malu mirisata, tells you what to expect.
• The rice, the bread and the coconut milk are never hot. They are what you eat more of when a bowl surprises you.

How do you ask?

In English, first. In any place that serves visitors, "not spicy, please" is understood, and so is "for a child".

A few words of Sinhala make people smile and make the message certain:

• "Sara aduwata." Less spicy. This is the phrase the phrasebooks give for food that is not so hot.
• "Miris" is chilli. Point at the sambol, say "miris?", and you will get an honest nod or a shake of the head.
• "Tikak." A little.
• "Karunakara miris danna epa, meka lamayata." Please do not put chilli in it, it is for the child.

Three habits do more than any phrase:

• Say it when you order, not when the plate arrives. Chilli goes in early.
• Ask for the sambol on the side. Then the choice stays yours.
• Taste each bowl alone before you mix it into your rice.

If it is too late, eat rice, bread or curd. Many people find they calm a hot mouth more than water does.

Which Sri Lankan dishes are mild by nature?

These are the ones to look for. Ask all the same, because every cook has their own hand.

• Kiribath. Milk rice: rice cooked soft in coconut milk, cut into pieces. It is served with lunu miris beside it. Leave the relish and the rice itself is as gentle as food gets.
• String hoppers with kiri hodi. Little nests of steamed rice noodles with a pale coconut milk gravy.
• Hoppers. Thin bowl-shaped pancakes of rice flour and coconut milk. A plain one or an egg hopper has no heat of its own. The relish served with it does.
• Pol roti. A flat bread with shredded coconut in the dough. Ask for it without the chilli relish.
• Dhal. Lentils cooked soft. It is on every table and is often among the gentler bowls.
• Curd with kithul treacle. Thick buffalo curd under dark palm syrup.
• Fruit and king coconut. Papaya, mango, pineapple and banana are everywhere, and so is the golden king coconut, opened in front of you.

Grilled fish with rice is the other easy answer on the coast. Fish from the grill is usually seasoned more than spiced, and you can ask for the sauce beside it.

How does our menu mark heat?

At Ohana the rule is simple: food is not spicy unless the dish says so. The menu marks every dish that has heat, in words: "A little spicy" or "Spicy". On a platter it names the part that carries the heat, so you know what to leave.

Not marked, and so without heat:

• Grilled Catch of the Day, 7,900 LKR. A whole snapper with garlic and thyme. Only the tomato salsa beside it is a little spicy.
• Sweet Prawn Curry, 6,700 LKR. Gentle on the chilli, rich with coconut milk. A first curry.
• Sesame Tuna Filet, 6,900 LKR, and Coconut Calamari, 5,700 LKR.
• Roasted Eggplant with Mushroom Bolognese, 3,400 LKR.
• Gazpacho, 1,800 LKR, and Gotukola Green Salad, 1,800 LKR.
• On the side: Coconut Mashed Potatoes, 1,500 LKR. Steamed Basmati Rice, 800 LKR. French Fries, 1,800 LKR.
• At breakfast: Milk Rice, 1,850 LKR, our kiribath with banana and toasted nuts. Tomato, Labneh, Soft Eggs, 2,950 LKR.

Marked "A little spicy" are, among others, the Mahi Mahi Pineapple Curry, the Grilled Jumbo Prawns, the Ceviche Limeño, the Ohana Zuppa di Pesce, the Baja Fish Taco and the Veggie Bowl. Marked "Spicy": the Tuna Poke Bowl, the Loaded Calamari Fries and the Yemeni Shakshuka, among others. On the Ohana Seafood Platter and Red Snapper for Two, the fish is not spicy. The coconut curry gravy and the fire-roasted salsa are a little spicy, and they come beside it.

If you would like a marked dish without the chilli, ask us when you order: the kitchen leaves it out on request.

What about children, grandparents and sensitive stomachs?

For children there is the Little Ones menu: Kids Fish and Fries, 2,800 LKR, real snapper in crunchy panko, and Kids Toast and Eggs, 1,500 LKR. The Little Ones are served all day, and a Babyccino is free. More on a day here with a family is on our families page.

For a stomach that is still getting used to the island, plain choices help: grilled fish, rice, mashed potatoes, a cooked vegetable. Filtered water is on the house, as much as you like. If you are unwell, ask a pharmacist or a doctor, not a menu.

To understand what is in the bowls before you travel, read Sri Lankan curry explained. If chilli is not your only worry, there is eating with allergies in Sri Lanka. And the table by the bay is on the page of our seafood restaurant near Hiriketiya.

Good to know

• Food at Ohana is not spicy unless the dish says so.
• Breakfast is served from 08:00 to 11:00, lunch and dinner from 11:00 to 21:00, every day.
• Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge. Filtered water is on the house.
• Every dish lists its allergens and all its ingredients on the full menu.
• We are at Turtle Beach, Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya.