Cooking & Markets

1. රෑ කෑම කන්නද?

   Rǣ kǣ-ma kan-na-da?

   Shall we eat dinner?

   Usage

   Used to invite someone to have dinner together

   Grammar Note

   "Rǣ kǣma" means "evening meal". "Kannada" is the interrogative-volitional form of "eat". Sinhala follows SOV word order.

2. කිරිබත් හදන්නේ කොහොමද?

   Ki-ri-bath ha-dan-nē ko-ho-ma-da?

   How do you make kiribath (milk rice)?

   Usage

   Used to ask how to prepare the traditional Sri Lankan milk rice

   Grammar Note

   "Kiribath" = "kiri" (milk) + "bat" (rice). This traditional dish is essential for Sri Lankan celebrations and New Year.

3. කොත්තු රොටී හදන්නේ කොහොමද?

   Kot-thu ro-tī ha-dan-nē ko-ho-ma-da?

   How do you make kottu roti?

   Usage

   Used to ask about preparing the popular street food

   Grammar Note

   "Kottu" means "chopped". "Hadanawā" means "to make". Kottu roti is a uniquely Sri Lankan dish.

4. කරියට කුළුබඩු අඹරන්න

   Ka-ri-ya-ta ku-ḷu-ba-ḍu am-ba-ran-na

   Grind the spices for the curry

   Usage

   Used to ask someone to grind spices while cooking

   Grammar Note

   කරියට = "for the curry" (කරිය + dative -ට). කුළුබඩු is the cover term for spices; කුළු ගම්මිරිස් is specifically black pepper. අඹරනවා = to grind, imperative අඹරන්න. Freshly ground spices are fundamental to Sri Lankan cuisine.

5. ලූනු රත් කරන්න

   Lū-nu rath ka-ran-na

   Fry the onions

   Usage

   Used to instruct someone to fry onions while cooking

   Grammar Note

   "Rat karanavā" is a compound verb meaning "to make hot / to heat up". "Rat" means "hot/red". Used in cooking to mean "fry/sauté".

6. ලුණු ගොඩ ගහන්න එපා

   Lu-ṇu go-ḍa ga-han-na e-pā

   Don't add too much salt

   Usage

   Used to caution against over-salting food while cooking

   Grammar Note

   "Epā" is the negative imperative meaning "don't". "Goḍa" literally means "mound/heap" and colloquially means "too much".

7. මේ රෙසිපිය ඉගෙන ගන්න ආසයි

   Mē re-si-pi-ya i-ge-na gan-na ā-sa-yi

   I want to learn this recipe

   Usage

   Used to express a desire to learn a particular recipe

   Grammar Note

   "Igena gannaā" is a compound verb meaning "to learn/acquire knowledge". "Āsayi" is colloquial for "I like to / I want to".

8. ගිනි කුඩා කරන්න

   Gi-ni ku-ḍā ka-ran-na

   Turn down the heat

   Usage

   Used to ask someone to reduce the heat while cooking

   Grammar Note

   "Gini" is the native Sinhala word for "fire/flame". "Kuḍā karanavā" means "to make small/reduce".

9. ඇඹරුම් ගල් දෙකක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ගෙදර ගෙදර තිබෙනවා

   Æm-ba-rum gal de-kak shri lan-kā-vē ge-da-ra ge-da-ra thi-be-na-vā

   A grinding stone is found in every Sri Lankan home

   Usage

   Used when talking about traditional cooking tools in Sri Lankan culture

   Grammar Note

   The reduplication "gedara gedara" is a distributive construction meaning "in every home". Reduplication expresses distribution in Sinhala.

10. කරිය සැරද?

    Ka-ri-ya sæ-ra-da?

    Is the curry spicy?

    Usage

    Used to ask whether a dish is spicy

    Grammar Note

    "සැර" is the word for spicy/pungent, and the final ද marks the question. "Less spicy" is "සැර අඩුවට". "රිදෙනවා" means to hurt/ache in the body and is not used for the heat of food. Sri Lankan cuisine is known for being very spicy.

11. ලුණු

    luṇu

    Salt

    Usage

    Salt. The near-identical ලූනු (lūnu) means onion — only the vowel length differs, so show the spelling as written

12. සීනි

    sīni

    Sugar

    Usage

    Sugar; also what you point at when adjusting the sweetness of tea

13. ගම්මිරිස්

    gammiris

    Black pepper

    Usage

    Black pepper. The bare මිරිස් (miris) means chilli — do not confuse them. Sri Lanka is a major pepper producer

14. මිරිස්

    miris

    Chilli

    Usage

    Chilli; the powder is මිරිස් කුඩු. Point at it when asking for a dish to be made without chilli

15. තෙල්

    thel

    Oil

    Usage

    Cooking oil; in Sri Lanka that normally means coconut oil, පොල් තෙල් (pol thel)

16. විනාකිරි

    vinākiri

    Vinegar

    Usage

    Vinegar, used for pickles (අච්චාරු, achcharu) and fish dishes

17. සුදුළූනු

    suduḷūnu

    Garlic

    Usage

    Garlic — literally "white onion". Point at it to ask for a dish without it

18. ඉඟුරු

    iṅguru

    Ginger

    Usage

    Ginger; also what you ask for when you want ginger tea, ඉඟුරු තේ, for an upset stomach

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