Teardrop Isle's spicy dishes

"What'll happen?" the waiter asks. At least that's what I think I hear him say.

Puzzled, I decide a non-committal nod is the most appropriate answer.

Now it's his turn to look confused.

"For both of you?" he inquires, gesturing towards my companion.

The penny drops when I remember a Sri Lankan friend's warning that locals' pronunciation of their national dessert, wattalappum, often sounds like "What'll happen?"

I'd asked her because the words "What'll happen?" were on my lunch bill, as one of the dishes I ate, earlier in the week.

"A common Sri Lankan joke," she smiled.

Wattalappum, one of Sri Lanka's most-loved dishes, is a delicious steamed pudding containing palm sugar, coconut milk, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg - a palate-cleansing follow-up to fiery Sri Lankan curries. Sometimes a bowl of jaggery - as palm sugar is generally called - is placed on the table. Diners eat a cube or two instead of ordering dessert.

Browsing in a bookshop in Colombo, the capital, I see many volumes about Sri Lankan food - and they aren't all recipe books.

It may seem strange that a country that elevates its cuisine to high status should have few good stand-alone restaurants. The reason: Sri Lankans prefer entertaining in hotels.

Tourists wisely follow their example.

Hotel buffets in some countries are justly dismissed as bland and boring. But not in Sri Lanka, where locals are the majority at tables groaning with tempting dishes. (Some tourist hotels are exceptions, particularly in coastal Negombo and Galle, where Western fare gets top billing.) Sri Lankan cuisine isn't the same as Indian, though geographic proximity ensures similarities.

Regional variations are common in India - and Sri Lankan dishes are closest to those of southern states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

At first glance, Sri Lankan food resembles Indian fare, but it tastes different. A common but accurate simplification: Sri Lankan curries, anchoring most meals, tend to be hotter and sweeter than India's.

Cuisine is surprisingly varied in this compact nation, a teardrop-shaped isle off southern India's coast that's crisscrossed by a latticework of narrow, winding but usually paved roads.

The country, slightly smaller than Tasmania, has a population only marginally smaller than Australia's.

Tourism, an important industry, survived during a quarter-century of civil war that ended five years ago. Conflict remained distant from holiday zones. Tourists weren't targeted.

Resorts dot both the beaches and inland hill country. Major attractions include World heritage-listed ancient cities and game parks teeming with elephants and other wildlife.

And then there's the food - blending indigenous creations with influences from India as well as successive colonial rulers: Portuguese, Dutch and British.

I watch the setting sun slip to the sea from the 150-year-old Galle Face, one of Asia's grand old hotels, and sip an arrack sour, which is a cocktail containing a shot of arrack, a local spirit distilled from coconut palm sap (and unrelated to arak, popular in Mediterranean countries, which has an aniseed flavour).

Glancing at other tables, I discover it's a popular choice - as are local Lion and Three Coins beers. I opt to try the buffet which I've been told is the capital's best (though rivalled by the Hilton and Cinnamon Grand).

It's a tasty introduction to Sri Lankan curries (with various meats, seafood and vegetables). Accompaniments include sambols (such as chutneys). In Sri Lanka, these usually contain coconut, chillies and Maldive fish (dried tuna flakes) to give a distinctive flavour.

Maldive fish - also used in curries - gained its name because it's imported from the nearby Maldives. There are also kiribath (rice cooked in coconut milk) and string hoppers (much like rice-flour noodles).

High point of this feast: lampries - curry parcels, wrapped in banana leaf, of which one is frikkadels (Dutch meatballs, enhanced with cinnamon, cloves and fennel).

Room service sounds a good idea next morning. I order the Galle Face's "Sri Lankan breakfast", a selection of curries and sambols, kiribath and egg hoppers (distinct from string hoppers, they're a pappadum-like base with fried egg, Spanish onion and sambol).

Signs saying "short eats" intrigue me on a drive into the countryside.

We stop at one eatery, discovering the term is a local spin on fast food: patties or roti (wrap-like Indian bread) filled with curried meats, fish or vegetables.

Our rickety roadside table overlooks tea plantations, a hilly expanse disappearing into the distance. Sari-clad women shuffle along paths between tea bushes, tossing plucked leaves into baskets on their backs.

In these surrounds, ordering a large pot of Sri Lankan tea seems highly appropriate.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE

Sri Lankan Airlines (03 8400 4353, srilankan.com) doesn't operate to Australia but flies from Asian cities to Colombo. Alternatively, low-cost carrier Air Asia X (1 300 760 330, airasia.com) flies from Australian cities to Kuala Lumpur with connections to Colombo.

STAYING THERE

Sri Lankan hotels are among Asia's least expensive, with plentiful choice. The Galle Face Hotel (+ 94 11 254 1010, gallefacehotel.com), a Colombo landmark, attracts many celebrity visitors.

PLAYING THERE

Be sure to include Sri Lanka's second city, Kandy - the town most visited by tourists with its famed Temple of the Tooth (where a gold casket is believed to contain a tooth of the Lord Buddha ). Kandy, a World Heritage site, is close to Sri Lanka's ancient cities and also to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Useful website: srilanka.travel. The writer was a guest of Air Asia X, Sri Lankan Airlines and Galle Face Hotel.