Bidmead Bites

Eat, drink and explore with Eve Bidmead

Navigation
  • About me
  • Food for thought
  • Recipes
  • Contact

Sri Lanka’s tea towns: cuppas and curd

19th April 2016 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Sat high up in Sri Lankan’s hill country, the air in Ella feels different to the warm breeze on the south beaches, and a world away from the thick hot smog of the capital Colombo. A cooler climate and rolling green hills make Ella a popular stop for tourists, keen to sample the country’s finest tea and hike up into mountains where it is grown.

FullSizeRender (3)

The rolling hills of Ella

Home stays are popular all over Sri Lanka and in Ella, staying with a family is the perfect way to explore and taste the town. Friendly families arrange everything from your climbs to your meals, and the whole experience feels far more personal than that in larger hotels or guest houses.

We stayed at Restful Inn and were the sole occupants – it has only one room! Upon arrival our host family helped us head straight out to a green tea plantation, where we learnt about the process of making green tea – did you know it comes from the same leaf as your regular cup of builders? Both green and black tea originate from the same plant, but what differentiates them is the process used to obtain the tea we drink.

Tea tasting at the green tea plantation

As well as trips around the town, the family catered our evening meals for us and served up a typical Sri Lankan breakfast. As seen in my previous post, hoppers are thin, bowl-shaped pancakes which are often eaten alongside lentil dahl in the mornings. The hoppers at our home stay were by far the best of the trip. The came either plain, wafer thin with a sweet, coconut flavour, or with egg, a combination of the perfectly cooked egg inside this thin delicate pancake.

FullSizeRender (6)

Like a perfect poached egg, inside a pancake – oh, yes.

IMG_1330

Beautiful breakfasts

Eating al fresco, staring out into the wild greenery and nature that surrounded the house, I’ve certainly had breakfast in far uglier places. First meal of the day down, surely in a few hours it’d be time for a snack?

When elevensies called, we took a stop at The Curd Shop. An uninspired name but doing exactly what it says on the packet, this was supposedly the best place to sample the Sri Lankan sweet of choice – curd and treacle.

IMG_1288

Curd and treacle at The Curd Shop, Ella

Much like Greek yogurt and honey but with a tarter yogurt and sweeter honey, I ate a lot of curd in the two weeks away. Some of it veered dangerously towards a distinctly savory feta-tasting cheese, with a questionable, slightly clumpy texture, although on the whole the thick creamy curd was a favourite dessert or morning snack of our holiday.

Another culinary highlight of Ella town was our lunchtime stop at The Downtown Roti Shop. Roti is a soft, buttery thin bread similar to a flatbread. Pol roti, made from coconut flour, is a popular breakfast item, yet the larger and thinner pancake-type rotis are seen more commonly; perfect for scooping up curry or for wrapping around a whole array of fillings.

The roti station – where the magic happens

At the Roti hut, you could see the dough being stretched out and made right in front of you. This would be the rotis used for all the wraps, with a variety of fillings, from beef and prawn all the way to veg-friendly avocado and cheese. As well as roti wraps, another popular plate here was kottu; day-old roti, cut up into thin strips and cooked on a hot plate with vegetables and eggs, with the option to add in meat. My sister chose a vegetable kottu while I went for a chicken roti – a doughy yet crispy roti, filled with slightly mashed curried potato, mixed in with strips of chicken.

kooo

My sister’s vegetable kottu

A chicken roti wrap

Essentially a chicken wrap, I think this could well have been up in my favourite eats of the entire holiday. Filled to the brim with a mix of textures and flavours, this roti, once wrapped, was placed back on the hot plate to seal and cement all the flavours together. With Sri Lankan food becoming more popular in the UK, I predict a big roti trend coming our way soon (and I will be the first to tuck in!).

Filed Under: breakfast, food writing, Sri Lankan food, travel bidmeadbites, travel writing Tagged With: egg hoppers, ella, hill country, hoppers, kottu, roti, sri lankan breakfast, sri lankan food, tea plantation

Welcome!

Let’s be social

BidmeadBites on Instagram

bidmeadbites

Being sun safe whilst working at the vineyard ☀️🍷🍇 #masvincenç #nosfuimosparaelcampo
Hazelnut fruit cake adapted from Ottolenghi’s Si Hazelnut fruit cake adapted from Ottolenghi’s Simple; one of my favourite ever bakes. Recipe now on the blog, link in bio. 🍰🌰🍑#hazelnutcake #ottolenghisimple #bidmeadbakes
From fried pork belly to vegan miso aubergine beca From fried pork belly to vegan miso aubergine because I think that’s what they call balance. First time using aubergine emoji in proper context 🍆 #greenroastingtin #misoaubergine
Arepas con chicharrón - recipe on the blog, link Arepas con chicharrón - recipe on the blog, link in bio. Really easy to make and can be paired with loads of other things!🇨🇴👩🏻‍🍳🥓#colombianrecipes #chicharron #arepas #enbarranquillamequedo
Barranquilla carnival with @yorecomiendobaq, proba Barranquilla carnival with @yorecomiendobaq, probably hunting down some sanchoco de guandul 🇨🇴🇬🇧❤️#takemeback #carnavaldebarranquilla #sancochodeguandul
Pollo alla puttanesca (or something like that) wit Pollo alla puttanesca (or something like that) with chicken in black olive tapenade and other delicious savoury things. 🐓🍗🥦#winnerwinnerchickendinner #chickentraybake
BidmeadBites returns with a new blog post on the w BidmeadBites returns with a new blog post on the world famous 3-ingredient pasta sauce. A cracking store cupboard recipe for these “unprecedented times we are living in”. The link is my bio, enjoy! 🍝🍅#marcellahazantomatosauce #pastasauce #coronacooking
Rhubarb and raspberry crumble cake because it’s Rhubarb and raspberry crumble cake because it’s a great time to get back to baking 👍🍰#dianahenry #bidmeadbakes
Spending my quarantine chocolate tasting 🍫 #ton Spending my quarantine chocolate tasting 🍫 #tonyschocolonely
Istanbul’s Gran Bazaar - intense haggling over r Istanbul’s Gran Bazaar - intense haggling over rings, spices and crockery in preparation for book deal negotiations #fellowshipistanbul #granbazaar #turkishspices 🇹🇷📚
While I was seriously evaluating the menu at @eata While I was seriously evaluating the menu at @eatalytorino, my dad was taking arty snaps on his phone. 🇮🇹🍝🥩#eatalytorino #iwanttoorderitall
Patagonia - rain, sun, mucho mate and lamb everyth Patagonia - rain, sun, mucho mate and lamb everything. 🏔🌲🌧🌞🐑🇦🇷 #barilocheargentina #villalangostura
Argentine pizza - too much cheese, too thick a bas Argentine pizza - too much cheese, too thick a base...yet I keep coming back. More so if there’s an empanada on the side 🍕🇦🇷#pizzaargentina #fugazzeta
Ceviche and crazy views in Villa Langostura 🏔🌲🐠🦑#villalangostura #miradorsocialclub
Getting my five a day serving of empanadas 😍❤ Getting my five a day serving of empanadas 😍❤️#empanadasargentinas #bariloche
Manejando la pari 💪🇦🇷🐄 Manejando la pari 💪🇦🇷🐄
Katsu sando - Japanese, Chinese & Korean flavours Katsu sando - Japanese, Chinese & Korean flavours mixed with Argentine meat is genius. 🇦🇷🥩#katsusando #niñogordobuenosaires
Liming down the islands with our very special brid Liming down the islands with our very special bride👰🏻🍈🌴🌊🇹🇹💃🏼 #downtheislands #sundaylime #dayafterthebachelorette
Bake & Shark - breaded shark in a fried doughy fla Bake & Shark - breaded shark in a fried doughy flatbread with all the fillings (no pepper sauce, as our friend advised “probably lay low on that 😌). 🦈🥯🌶🥑🥬🥒🇹🇹
Curry crab, dumpling and callaloo in Store Bay 🇹🇹🦀🌴#trinifood #tobagoeats #crownpoint
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Recent Posts

  • Hazelnut fruit cake recipe – Ottolenghi inspired
  • Arepas & Chicharrón recipe
  • The easiest tomato sauce you’ll ever make
  • Etles – a taste of Northern China in Walthamstow
  • El Obrero & Pizzería Güerrin – two Buenos Aires institutions

Browse posts by month

Search the site

Browse posts by category

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Child Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress