British Cooks Taste Test Sri Lankan Food & Cooking Methods!! | Sorted Food

In today’s episode, we deep dive into all things Sri Lankan cooking with our good friend Karan from Hoppers London! Cooking methods, interesting ingredients & much more, we explore it all!
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#SortedFood
#SriLanka
#Chef

[@SortedFood]

Just wanted to thank people in the comments for highlighting that the upload date for this video coincided with Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day - a massively important day for the Tamil people. This wasn’t something we were previously aware of and the timing of the launch was completely coincidental. Whilst we never seek to be political in celebrating food from around the world, we always strive to point out right from wrong where we can - hopefully this small insight into Sri Lankan cooking ingredients and methods can help to celebrate and honour all the people of this great country. 🇱🇰 J

[@gumbi66]

ty

[@vabetha]

Thank you ☺️

[@SoupyPupper]

Imagine calling a remembrance day "political". Y'all got too soft after the Mr Roger episode...

[@aquatikcamel4034]

@@SoupyPupper What's the story behind it?

[@jinn194]

@@aquatikcamel4034 the dude has not made it a secret he condones the stunts China has been pulling off in the last decade.

[@samuelcripps4802]

Crazy idea … can we get a cooking challenge of the normals under Bens instruction against the food team ?

[@eleonoreopdenberg9008]

That is a great idea

[@jennv.s.o.p1603]

I love this idea

[@clozupy]

Replying so it gets more traction! This sounds very fun

[@isabellaryan1106]

@@eleonoreopdenberg9008 yes please that sound awesome

[@HairyNun]

I personally want to see Khush (I think?) Involved in some episodes but perhaps he's camera shy

[@jayamannenaveen]

You guys should totally visit Sri Lanka on a food tour! Sri Lanka has so much more amazing food items to offer, And Chef Karan thanks for bringing awareness on the current economic/ political crisis Sri Lanka is in. great work you're doing there.

[@Clenato]

Yes!!! More food team on screen, so long as they feel comfortable with that!!

[@lulubelle65]

Maybe someone can teach them to make a proper pork black curry and then they can teach me.

[@katiehettinger7857]

Once the political upheaval dies down.

[@shehanperera9495]

Love to see Sri Lankan food getting more attention and even more so to see big channels talking about the crisis there. Thank you so much to all of you at Sorted and Chef Karan!

[@icechiang]

Such a fun and interesting video. I'd love a series like this where you have an expert come by and show types of cuisine lot of people might not be familiar with. I knew nothing about Sri Lanka food so this was a lot of fun. Thanks for the vid and showcase!

[@SortedFood]

So glad you liked the video, it's great learning from others!

[@LightningRound1st]

That is a brilliant idea and I hope Sorted takes it on!

[@afkharmohamed5584]

I have been living in Sri Lanka for about 3 years and I have fallen in love with the culture and the food they make. And what is on the video is not enough tell others how much Sri Lanka loves their food.

[@kimmychuang5564]

Karan's so cool and such a great teacher! I'd never heard of any of this stuff and it was super fun to learn from him ☺️

[@vindya14]

Omg you guys! Sri Lanka represent! So much shit going down over here and this is a welcome distraction. 🇱🇰❤️

[@SortedFood]

❤

[@caseygregori]

This is why the west can't support socialism

[@sajeewaniperera4889]

හරි එල

[@banderdash2702]

This is what I love about SortedFood and the guys here. Yeah they make entertaining and informative content, but they don't just focus on that. They use their platform to have people like Chef Kuran, and give them that platform to promote that charity. And time and time again they do this for great causes, and continue to expand their platform by collabing with other KZbinrs as well. Having a platform is one thing, but using said platform the way they do is something special.

[@SortedFood]

Thank you so much, comments like this really do mean a lot to the whole team 😀

[@sonaliperera]

Just wanted to shout out to my favourite Sri Lankan restaurant in London who specialise in Kottu Roti and Hoppers - Colombo Kitchen Restaurant who donated £1600 towards medicine for Sri Lanka! 🇱🇰

[@manashasilva6095]

Thank you for acknowledging the situation happening in Sri Lanka ❤️

[@divergentegmbv7692]

OMG the Sri Lankan in me screamed when I saw this!!! Always a treat to see Sorted try out some of our Sri Lankan cuisine!! Love from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰❤️

[@fmlAllthetime]

Stay safe, fed and mentally healthy. Sincerely, I hope everything gets better for you soon. Love from California.

[@sarahbailey1651]

As a second generation Sri Lankan living in the uk, my nanny used to make these and strung hoppers for us on special occasions. My mums just returned from her first trip back in 60yrs and bought me a hopper pan. I’m loving it! Just struggled getting the right mix of rice flour with the yeast but they were very tasty. Try black curry powder or love cake🥰🥰🥰 Ps great that you have raised the issues in Sri Lanka currently, it’s heart breaking what’s happening at the moment.

[@hrithikasarvodayan]

I cant tell you how ecstatic i am to see this video. Proud Srilankan here.🙌🏾 My grandma would be super duper proud of you guys!

[@elpukito]

I feel Sri Lankan cuisine is completely underrated. It has a tendency to get thrown in with Indian food, but it's just so unique in it's own delicious way. Egg hoppers and Pol Sambol are great, and so is Kottu Roti that you did on this channel once. If you want to try something extraordinary: we did a cooking class when we visited where we learned how to cook garlic curry - apparently it's a dish that is often served at weddings, and it included a whopping 120 cloves of garlic for eight people. Really simple but great flavor, and not as overwhelmingly garlicky as one might think. Check it out.

[@mayaraj981]

Being Sri Lankan living in Scotland, this was such a hard watch. I miss all those flavours. Thank you for the shout out to Sri Lanka. one thing though, we prefer 'lunu miris' or 'katta sambol' than 'pol sambol' with hoppers. :D

[@magsimags]

this was really cool. as someone who doesn't live in a big international city, my exposure to food from other cultures is rather limited. also as a broke college student i can't afford to take many risks when it comes to ordering out or even cooking for myself. cause if i don't like the food, i'll have wasted money. so being able to learn more about food from around the world through you guys is a great treat. and i love when you get "experts" in to teach you and us. those hoppers sound and look amazing and i'm gonna be looking up the nearest sri lankian restaurant to give those a try

[@PokhrajRoy.]

The tool using to extract Coconut Flesh is a staple at home so I’m happy to see it making a comeback. Also, how can we forget Ben and the automated Coconut Meat Extractor?

[@broshmosh]

"Don't do it Ben, it's not worth it!" "I'm shutting this down!" Unforgettable James Currie lines in that video.

[@kritibansal740]

It would have worked had they gotten these smaller coconuts used in this video imho

[@crisaybar4895]

I’m sure that moment still lives in James’ nightmares 🤣

[@wallythewondercorncake8657]

Hardly forgotten when they literally mention it in the video...

[@rjustin23]

In my home as well as many Caribbean homes as well, grew up grating coconuts and making milk, custard and oil every day.

[@RBRB431]

You guys' chemistry with Karan is amazing! It's like you've always been friends. Loved this episode and got to learn so much about Sri Lankan food!

[@thepartnerincrime]

I love Karan! His passion for Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan food is infectious!

[@rif9576]

I love what you are doing, I keep coming back coz of the great content but mostly for camaraderie

[@SortedFood]

Thank you so much Riefie! That's so lovely of you to say :)

[@francessweeney1]

@@SortedFood 0000000i0ìii0i0uii⁸8888

[@dizzydazed8055]

paying for comments, typical Sorted.

[@eleonoreopdenberg9008]

That is a great idea

[@JonathanDavidsonn]

@@francessweeney1 You good??

[@rahulr1305]

Being an Indian from the southern state of Kerala, it's nice to see all this food. Our food is quite similar. We call hoppers "appam" or "velaiappam". We call pol sambal "chamanthi". I'm not very familiar with palm treacle though...but this reminds me....as someone living abroad longing for Kerala food and never finding it in the various Indian restaurants, perhaps I will have better luck if I look for Sri Lankan restaurants.

[@pbandpudge]

I came here to comment this! My family is from Kerala and I instantly recognized hoppers as appam and I'm glad it's getting some recognition! My grandma used to serve them with sugar sometimes for breakfast

[@rahulr1305]

@@pbandpudge Haha, yes! My mom used do that as well when I was a kid. Sometimes we would dip it in sweetened milk as well, although I hear it's more common to have it with coconut milk. Honestly, I never used to like the soft inner part of the appam as a kid but I loved to eat the crispy part that we would call "chiragu" or wings, haha! But this stuff is just the best with what we call "ishtu" in my part of Kerala....chicken and potato stew.

[@jijogorgeraj]

palm treacle is " Chakkara" in Kerala. we use and store it in solid form, similar to Jaggery. Chakkara is also known as palm jaggery. made from the sap of the toddy palm

[@jijogorgeraj]

hoppers were introduced from Kerala/ Tamilnadu through traders, so also is puttu and idiyappam know as pittu and string hoppers respectively in Srilanka. trade and sea travel were quite famed for in old Tamizhakam ( including Kerala)

[@funkytiger8683]

I'm not entirely sure, but i think hopper might just be the anglicized version of 'appam'

[@slimkt]

Late to the party, just came to say, I freakin’ love pol sambol. Some steamed rice, a couple of sausages, a fried egg, and a heap of pol sambol is perfection. And best of all, it works for any meal of the day. Glad to see Sri Lankan cuisine getting some notice!

[@LightningRound1st]

Love Chef Karan; love his love of Sri Lankan foods, and love that Sorted is showing world cuisines. The highlight for me was the camaraderie and respect between chefs. Also, Hoppers look amazing!! Great videos!

[@lulubelle65]

Buffalo curd is reason enough to go to Sri Lanka. I’ve never found it anywhere else and it’s so much better than yogurt.

[@Charlzton]

Laced with kithul treacle and topped with fresh papaya and red banana is the best breakfast

[@harryr5785]

With this current crisis going on in srilanka its been 1 1/2 months after i lost my job, and making food saving is my sanity even though i cant afford the food I’ve eaten before. So thank you for showing some love to Sri lanka my home country!

[@Anna-uh3jq]

“You’re not shy about cracking terrible jokes, are you?” Nope… and it’s what we all love. 😂

[@p3t4l]

There's some pride seeing any Asian cuisine getting the positive recognition it deserves but there's something especially touching to see the stuff I grew up with featured on such a big channel. Thanks to Karan for sharing his knowledge 🥰

[@karu6111]

yeah, the first extraction thing, I learned that from my grandmother. She was adamant to separate the first extraction from the later ones. Used for finishing, great idea. btw, the way we'd extract more coconut milk is we would add warm water to the "meat", more appropriate called "kernel. We would just add warm water then extract repeatedly until the meat wasn't giving much oily, creamy liquid anymore.

[@aadarshkrishianthan4414]

The coconut shaver my family has the handle fell of so when ever we want to shave the coconut we attach a hand drill to where the handle was so when I see them getting scared of it I just cant help but laugh 😂

[@organizedbykat]

That gadget episode always makes me laugh because of how dedicated Ben is to using it 😂

[@jenw6439]

The noise of that coconut being opened 👌🏻

[@SortedFood]

Lovely sound huh?

[@christinamatzen4214]

Thank you for having the link to donate. I’m not sure about the exchange rate from UK Sterling to USD but hopefully my donation will feed a family like Karan mentioned ❤️

[@marinelotrivino9995]

I used to make hopper when i worked on a skrilankan restaurant. Such a unique dish.

[@KangarooAmaar]

This is outstanding! This is all the foods I love except the Maldive Fish, sadly I'm deathly allergic to it! Sri Lanka is in a bad place at the moment and videos like this are a welcome escape amidst the crisis, emotional wellbeing and current status of this Island we Sri Lankan's call home! Thank you so much and big love all the way from the little Pearl of the Indian Ocean

[@katiehettinger7857]

It's heart breaking to see the troubles and people suffering. ❤

[@fmlAllthetime]

Stay safe, fed and mentally healthy. Sincerely, I hope everything gets better for you soon. Love from California. I wrote that on another person's comment. I hope all of you stay strong and all is over sooner than later.

[@Charlzton]

This is a brilliant introduction to sri lankan food! The country has so much to offer, it's insanely beautiful, culturally and biologically diverse, ancient, with incredibly flavourful food and passionately kind and funny people. I've never met a single person who visited sri lanka and didn't fall in love with it (and I've met hundreds of people who've visited it). The country has gone through a lot of pain politically and economically, but its people are more united than ever in building a successful future and are still resilient, hard-working, kind, and optimistic I strongly strongly recommend visiting Sri Lanka and trying out all the food! It sucks a little to be a local right now, but none of the current political problems have an impact on tourism in my experience

[@deawallach3404]

Totally fascinating, I havent seen hoppers made in front of me before! I didn't realize it was such a special pot. I donated 30 pounds via the link in the description below. Wish I could have done more. Prayers for Sri Lanka from Canada.

[@dangersparoxysm]

This guy is freakin fantastic, I learn so much every time they feature him . Thank you chef for your knowledge!!!!!

[@kavindridesilva2028]

HIII FROM SRI LANKA!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! SO HAPPY TO SEE OUR CUISINE BEING ON SUCH A GLOBAL PLATFORM SPECIALLY WHEN OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY IS IN A DIRE STATE Much love ❤️

[@katiehettinger7857]

❤

[@Sjivje]

Thank you so much for everything about this video (including everything in the description box - even the help for Ukraine). The situation in Sri Lanka is getting dire and its citizens need all the help they can get. Thank you to all and thank you Karan for the efforts you are putting in and are going to put in to help ❤️♥️

[@MildredCady]

I’d actually love to see the process of taking a dish through your recipe lab process (as long as the food team is okay with being on camera).

[@farnazdarjani8238]

I really love it when they show us different cuisines from different countries and cultures and how they use their ingredients. Thank you guys😘

[@shraddhapanda2868]

Absolutely love a colab with Karan! So much to learn everytime and in the simplest of ways possible!

[@ayampopski1404]

The Hopper thing actually also exists in Indonesia for a dish called "Kerak Telor" or Egg Crust (rough translation, there, also cmiiw), which has a long handle and also to help you flipping the pan (yes, you flip the pan, not the egg) and one of the pancakes in West Java called "Surabi", which is made mostly from clay. So it's interesting to see what you guys are going to experiment with it in the future.

[@sannahbouzeghoub3871]

I'd love to see you guys do some Arab food, especially coming straight off the heels of that spices episode. Personally I'd love to recommend my own country Algeria with particularly hearty and homely dishes, but Arab cuisine as a whole is pretty darn great Staple Algerian dishes: karantita, chorba, rechta, bourek, mhadjeb, dolma, creponne, dziriyat, makroudh, kalb elouz, zlabiya, and griwech. People are more than welcome to drop their favourite Arab dishes below as well, since I don't want to start saying things and then be too out of my depth XD

[@HAM-qi6de]

I think it would bourak would be more up their street because of how fast and customizable it is

[@sebastianklima]

This brought back so many memories from my Sri Lankan visit. Dhal kari, sambal and Kotu Roti were some of my favourites. But the best one (imo), which you did not include, was Sri Lankan Brinjal. Oh my, that thing is delicious.

[@georgemullens]

These videos are so good guys! Really educational and makes you find properly authentic stuff from a master. Keep it up!

[@PikachuuNinja]

Watching Ben get fed was absolutely adorable.

[@TheMrDhare]

Was absolutely not expecting this from Sorted today! But as a Sri Lankan, I am very touched. Thank you!

[@NimiDW686]

As a Sri Lankan living in Australia, I’m not only really happy and grateful to see my culture celebrated on this channel but I’m truly appreciative of you taking the time to shine light on the crisis going on in Sri Lanka at the moment xx

[@samanthagibson2889]

It continues to astound me how many different foods are in the world and how different culture just make their own and run with it and other cultures just don't even think about making the same food. It blows my mind. Very cool

[@whydoilivetoseethis]

Honestly some of the nicest people in the world in Sri Lanka from my experience. They don't deserve what's happening there. Donated.

[@georkost]

And this is why I love this channel. I learn so many things from you guys for places and cuisines that I am not very familiar with! I know some things about Sri Lanka, but now I know more :)

[@wolfbloodforevermaleficent]

as a srilankan I was incredibly excited to see this, love you guys for educating others on different cultures

[@ukebec1178]

I've never encountered any of these ingredients, and they all look amazing and delicious! Thank you!

[@SortedFood]

So interesting to explore ingredients that most of us have never heard of before too!

[@kaldo_kaldo]

You've never had coconut?

[@rachaelnarimalla]

You guys find awesome guests! I love seeing you all learning and putting your new found ingredients to use.

[@ShadeScarecrow]

Another charming guest with a lot of interesting information about a countrys cuisine I´ve never tried. One of many reasons why I love this channel.

[@ethancampbell215]

I think the most fascinating and interesting thing about traditional Asian cuisine is the limited wastage of ingredients! It’s so intriguing that a coconut has such versatility that it can be utilised in a range of applications, its water being used in sauces, the flesh as a seasoning, the shells as serving dishes and even the husks being used in construction and manufacturing in some countries!

[@shaliniabeykoon7935]

Honestly this just warms my heart! Food is such a big part of culture there. I still remember having curd and treacle on the first day back at my grandparents’… sooo yum. You guys are incredible for supporting the situation there. I really hope you can visit Lanka one day. You’ll have the most amazing time! ❤️

[@mazenrizvi1614]

Been ur fans since 2015.....its so heartwarming to see u guys giving my home country Sri lanka a whole video and thnx alot fr raising awareness regarding the crisis...its absolutly a terrible situation here

[@tomscott4044]

The level of content that you guys put out every week is astounding. I’ve been watching for several years, and *every* video is teeming with entertainment, sensitivity and warmth. Immensely grateful for the care and attention that goes into the production of each video. As long as you’re making videos, I’ll be here watching them! It’s KZbin content, sorted x

[@ananyasamarasinghe5403]

it was so amazing to see this! i'm glad y'all enjoyed it and i'm also very thankful that you addressed the current situation happening here, channels like yours acknowledging our country makes me so happy. great video as always!

[@alexdavis5766]

Such an interesting video, would love to see this across more countries. Maybe a new playlist?

[@dulasvlogs2570]

Had to share this in my FB as this just what we need to see, good vibes. Big thank you to chef Karan for bringing the awareness about both economical and political crisis my beautiful country going through. Definitely will visit your place Hoppers next time we are in London.

[@gihansiriwardhana7085]

Sri Lankan 🇱🇰 here.. loving this. Most accurate way of breaking into a coconut i have seen in a british cooking show. (Sri lanka is not a sub continent of india though 😁)

[@sonaliperera]

Also Chef Karan is Indian not Sri Lankan

[@leighloebig5580]

Fantastic video, fellas! I love when Karan visits! I love learning new things. 👏

[@123Iwannahavefun]

I absolutely love this video! I went on a trip to Sri Lanka a couple years ago, and they by far had the BEST food I've ever eaten!!! This video takes me back to those delicious flavours :)

[@heizeloversh2183]

Guys when you put chilli flakes and dried fish you have to put salt too in first place before grinding.

[@GaveenPrabhasara]

Thank you Karan! Thank you Sorted! Love from 🇱🇰. Our country is going through some tough times and thank you for sharing this, along with our food and flavors with everyone. 🙏🏾

[@janillefernandez6601]

Never has a title gotten me this excited!!! Thank you for giving our little nation so much love❤️❤️❤️

[@fionathomas8468]

Fantastic to see you wonderful guys enjoying some Sri Lankan food!! My husbands family have taught me how to cook a few Sri Lankan dishes and now they are a weekly staple. We are proud to keep his Grandma's spirit in our kitchen 🇱🇰

[@DonPandemoniac]

This instantly made me very curious about Sri Lankan cuisine. Seems like it balances delicate and bold flavors very well. A pleasure to watch, thank you team & Karan!

[@anushkapremathilaka1790]

Wow, I love seeing Sri Lankan traditional foods that taste like this. I highly appreciate as a Sri Lankan, you nailed it, chef Karan. Thank you.

[@iplak8579]

I love how you guys keep going back for the Pol Sambol ❤❤❤ It's the best .. i know 🙃 Means so much that you guys see us and acknowledge what we are going through 🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰

[@QoH616]

Jamie's reaction to "finishing cream", love it!

[@Timalay]

I noticed that just now to.

[@PamudithaLeo]

We never eat "Poll Sambal" with hoppers it's call "katta sambal" (version which no coconut involved but chilly, sault, skipjack tuna, onion crush altogether until turn in to a paste), but with string hoppers and with rice we do have it.

[@suhanifernando4495]

This episode made me sooooo homesick!!! Thanks Sorted for pulling my heart strings 😭

[@9jItH4]

Thank you for an authentic portrayal of Sri Lankan food! Also the reaction to Pol Sambol is 100% correct!

[@mechellec7140]

That's for sharing Karan!!!

[@whizeee]

Thrilled to see this video and how much you all enjoyed the Sri Lankan food! But I must say, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Please bring more Sri Lankan chefs on the show! Kudos to Karan for the amazing initiative to support Sri Lankans at this grave time - we are stronger together!

[@jesmiscellaneous8938]

woahhh Karan's come back! Remember watching the old video & genuinely enjoyed his guest starring

[@evavox9761]

So much about this video is exactly what food and cooking should be about! Experience, culture, flavor and friendship!

[@hrithikasarvodayan]

With everything going on here in SL, seeing chef Karan introduce you to all these dishes , makes me so happy. Curd and kithul treacle is such a classic!!!!

[@BlackIrishGuy]

So good seeing all this amazing sri lankan stuff I grew up with as a kid being featured more

[@JinHee20]

It’s so wonderful to see my country represented on Sorted. Curd and Kithul tickle maybe one of my favourite dessert. And it’s not usually a breakfast. Polsambol, I think normal Sri Lankans eat this almost everyday with rice. Mostly in the morning. And thank you guys for acknowledging the current situation in my country and all the help you are arranging. It’s much needed and we are thankful. This actually made me cry. 😢 It’s utterly devastating. But as a nation we have been very resilient and the positive spirit of the people still prevailing although we all are going through hard times.

[@zayoko1353]

Thankyou for this. The support is greatly appreciated

[@CiderDivider]

Karan! Thanks for coming in and showing some awesome Sri Lankan essentials.

[@tessgnanakan2268]

Super grateful to guys and Chef Karan for shedding light on the crisis that Sri Lanka is facing. Also been super refreshing to read comments from fellow Sri Lankans here! A welcome distraction indeed 🇱🇰♥️

[@darlouthia5153]

So fascinating !! Another discovery 💡 Thanks !

[@agatamarchand5322]

Absolutely love the guest. Super engaging and interesting 💜

[@The_Curious_Cat]

Amazing episode, love learning about food in other cultures.

[@KD-zj4ye]

Great video. Sri Lankan cuisine is amazing, so flavourful and rich. *Pol sambola* is my favourite!! And thank you HOPPERS for helping Sri Lankans in need ❤

[@abiwik9718]

Thank you for this ❤️. There is so little awareness of what’s going on in our beautiful country right now. So glad you got to enjoy our poll sambol

[@taniabastians281]

Iam a Sri lankan..I love this video... Thank you so much guys..

[@taylornicole5037]

Karan was so great! More Karan!!

[@ellieisanerd]

This was such an amazing video! So much stuff to learn.

[@alexisstockard3078]

Love this show today thank you Ben and the guys had fun I see that

[@cmamsler]

This was super cool. I learned a lot.

[@chaoticyank5772]

I love this episode. It is so interesting seeing cuisines that I do not regularly see. Plus, Karan is awesome. Hopefully, we can see him back.

[@lbcooley2386]

This is why I love your channel! Something so different I’ve never heard of and already downloaded recipes! My family now says “you got this from your Brit’s right? Ha and yes I did. Love you guys! Keep going!

[@phill310]

Will be visiting London soon - very excited to now go try Hoppers! Thanks Sorted