Jaffna Food Guide: Crab Curry, Odiyal Kool and Northern Tamil Cooking

The food of Jaffna and the Tamil north is one of the great reasons to make the journey up there. Influenced by South Indian Tamil cooking but distinctly its own, it's built on seafood from the lagoons, the palmyra palm and a famously fiery Jaffna curry powder of roasted spices. Here's what to eat. For the rest of the island's cuisine, see our Sri Lankan food guide.

Jaffna crab curry

The north's signature dish: large lagoon crabs cooked in a thick, dark, intensely spiced gravy with roasted curry powder, tamarind and murunga (drumstick) leaves. It's messy — expect to crack shells with your hands — and wonderful. Many restaurants in Colombo also serve it, but it tastes best in Jaffna.

Odiyal kool

A thick, hearty seafood soup made with odiyal flour (from dried palmyra tubers), crab, prawns, fish, squid, long beans, jackfruit seeds and tamarind. It's often cooked for gatherings and served in a bowl or a palmyra leaf. Try it at least once.

Other dishes to try

• Jaffna mutton curry — slow-cooked goat curry, very spicy.
• Prawn and cuttlefish curries — with fresh lagoon seafood.
• Pittu — steamed cylinders of rice flour and coconut, eaten with curry and coconut milk.
• Thosai and idli — South Indian-style fermented pancakes and steamed rice cakes, with sambar and chutney.
• Vadai — including ulundu vadai, crispy lentil doughnuts.
• Kool and rasam — spicy, sour broths.
• Jaffna-style fried rice and kottu.
• Vegetarian thali — many Hindu restaurants are entirely vegetarian, especially around temples such as Nallur Kandaswamy. See our vegetarian guide.

The palmyra palm

The tall palmyra palm is the symbol of the north, and almost every part of it is used:

• Palmyra toddy — a mildly alcoholic drink from the palm's sap.
• Palmyra jaggery — dark palm sugar.
• Odiyal — dried palmyra tuber, ground into flour.
• Pinnatu — dried palmyra fruit pulp, sold as a chewy sweet.
• Palmyra crafts — baskets, mats and boxes woven from the leaves.

Look for government-backed palmyra product shops in Jaffna town.

Sweets and ice cream

• Jaffna mangoes — especially the karuthakolomban variety, sweet and fragrant, in season roughly May to July.
• Ice cream — Jaffna is famous for its old-fashioned ice cream parlours serving sundaes, faluda and colourful scoops. A trip to one is a Jaffna tradition.
• Paniyaram and other sweet fritters.
• Mothagam — sweet dumplings, especially at festivals.

Where to eat

• Small family restaurants and "hotels" in Jaffna town serve the best everyday food.
• Seafood restaurants by the lagoon for crab.
• Guesthouses — ask your host to arrange a home-cooked meal; it's often the best food you'll eat.
• Temple festivals — during the Nallur festival in August–September, stalls sell sweets and snacks.

Eating customs

• Food is often served on a banana leaf. Fold it towards you when you've finished to show you enjoyed the meal.
• Eat with your right hand.
• Many Hindu families are vegetarian, and beef is not usually eaten. Some restaurants are strictly vegetarian.