The Main Ingredients Used In Sri Lankan Cookery
Over the centuries many individual ingredients have been used to enhance our dishes. The significant aspect of these are that there were no animal products like animal fat, milk etc included here. At present there is 42 such ingredients to be found and these are in common usage in every Sri Lankan household. For the upcoming recipes, these will be used and it is advisable to keep these items at hand for some may be difficult to find.
| No | General Name | Botanical Name(s) | Other name(s) |
| 01 | Coriander Seed | Coriandrum Sativum | Koththamalli, Cilantro seeds, Chinese Parsely seeds |
| 02 | Cummin | Cuminum Cyminum | Suduru |
| 03 | Sweet Cummin | Umbelliferae Pimpinella anisum L./ Foeniculum Vulgare | Mahaduru, Sweet Alice |
| 04 | Turmeric | Curcuma domestica /Curcuma Longa | Kaha |
| 05 | Black Pepper | Piper nigrum | Gammiris |
| 06 | Dried Red Chillies | *refer Red Chillies | Viyali Miris |
| 07 | Mustard Seed | Brassica Nigra | Aba |
| 08 | Fenugreek | Foenum-graecum | Ulu Hal, Birds Foot, Greek Hay-seed |
| 09 | Enasaal | Elettaria Cardamomum | |
| 10 | Cloves | Eugenia caryophyllata | Karabu Nati, Eugenia Aromatica |
| 11 | Cinnamon | Cinnamomum Zeylanicum | Kurundu |
| 12 | Gamboge | Garcinia hanburyii / Garcinia Cambigia | Goraka, Gutta gamba. Gummigutta. Tom Rong. Gambodia. Garcinia Morella |
| 13 | Tomato | Lycopersicon esculentum | Thakkali |
| 14 | Curry Leaves | Murraya Koenigil | Karapincha |
| 15 | Keora | Pandanus odoratissimus / Pandanus Latifolia | Rampe |
| 16 | Lemon Grass | Cymbopogon citrates | Seira |
| 17 | Ginger Root | Asarum canadense / Zingiber Officinale | Inguru, Canada Snakeroot. Indian Ginger. Coltsfoot |
| 18 | Garlic | Allium Sativum | Sudu Lunu |
| 19 | Biling | Averrhoa bilimbi | (Fruit of the) Cucumber Tree |
| 20 | Lime | Citrus acida | Dehi, Citrus acris. Limettae Fructus |
| 21 | Tamarind | Tamarindus indica | Siyambala, Imlee. Tamarindus officinalis |
| 22 | Red Chillies | Capsicum Frutescens | Rathu Miris, Red Pepper, Bird Pepper, African Bird Pepper ,African Pepper,Chillies,Bird Pepper,African Chillies, Cayenne, Capsicum |
| 23 | Shallots | Allium cepa / Allium Rebrum | Rathu Lunu, Eschalots |
| 24 | Moringa Leaves | Moringa Oleifera | Murunga Kola, Horse Radish Tree, Drumstick Tree, Sahijan |
| 25 | Coconut | Cocos Nucifera | Pol |
| 26 | Nutmeg | Myristica fragrans | Sadikka, Nux Moschata |
| 27 | Papaw | Carica papaya | Papol, Melon Tree. Mamaeire. Papaya Vulgaris |
| 28 | Rice | Oryza sativa | Hal, Nivara. Dhan. O. montana. O. setegera. O. latifolia. Bras. Paddy |
| 29 | Mace | Myristica fragrans | Wasa Wasi |
| 30 | Davul Kurundu | Neolitsea cassia | Bellary leaf, Wild Cinnamon |
| 31 | Bark of the Moringa tree | **see Moringa Leaves | Murunga Kole Pothu |
| 32 | Coconut Milk | N/A | |
| 33 | Coconut Oil | N/A | |
| 34 | Water | N/A | |
| 35 | Jaggery | N/A | Hakuru |
| 36 | Sugar | N/A | Seeni |
| 37 | Eggs | N/A | Biththara |
| 38 | Toddy Sediment | N/A | Ra Mandi |
| 39 | Chunam | N/A | Vitata Kana Hunu |
| 40 | Vinegar | N/A | |
| 41 | Salt | N/A | Lunu |
| 42 | Maldive Fish | N/A | Umbalakada |
