Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Parippu & Pol Sambol
Creamy coconut-milk red lentils with a fiery fresh coconut-chili relish, the twin pillars of a Lankan rice table.
Sri Lankan · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 30 min
~1127 cal · 30g protein · 129g carbs · 58g fat · 21g fiber · 13g sugars · 50g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Parippu, Sri Lankan red lentil dhal, is the island's everyday dish, red lentils simmered soft in and tempered with mustard seeds, , onion, and chili. Creamy, mild, and comforting, it appears on nearly every Sri Lankan table, at every meal.
What sets it apart from Indian dals is the , which makes it richer and rounder, and the '' (thel dala) of aromatics bloomed in coconut oil and stirred through. Served here with pol sambol, a fiery relish of fresh grated coconut, chili, lime, and Maldive fish, it balances soothing and searing.
Eaten with rice or with hoppers and roti, parippu and pol sambol turn up together at nearly every meal, from Colombo to the southern coast.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1.5 cups red lentils, rinsed
14 oz can
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp seeds
1 small pandan leaf, torn
Hard to find? a few drops of pandan paste or extract - the bottled extract is the only substitute that actually tastes of pandan; vanilla is the usual suggestion and it is not wrong, since pandan carries a vanilla note, but it misses the nuttiness entirely
1 green chili, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp Sri Lankan unroasted curry powder (or a mild curry powder)
1 tsp chili powder
2 sprigs fresh
Hard to find? a shredded makrut lime leaf, about one for every five or six curry leaves - both are glossy oil-rich leaves that give up their aroma the moment they hit hot fat, which is why this works for tempering where a bay leaf does not. Dried curry leaves are a poor shadow but curry leaves freeze extremely well
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 red onion, sliced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 dried red chilies
2 tsp chili flakes
1.5 cups grated coconut (fresh or rehydrated)
1 tbsp Maldive fish flakes (for the sambol)
Hard to find? 2 fillets canned anchovies in oil, drained, patted dry and pounded - closer than dried shrimp or shrimp paste, which pull the sambol somewhere else entirely; add them at the very end so the flavour survives the heat
1 lime
2 tbsp coconut oil
4 cups steamed rice, to serve
Instructions
1
Put the lentils in a pot with the turmeric, fenugreek, pandan, green chili, garlic, half the curry leaves, the unroasted curry powder, the chili powder and 2.5 cups water, and simmer 15 minutes until soft.
✎ Chef’s note
The aromatics go in with the lentils from the start, not just in the tempering at the end. That is what makes a Sri Lankan parippu taste different from a plain dal, and the unroasted curry powder is deliberate: roasted powder would overwhelm the lentils.
2
Stir in the coconut milk and cook gently 5 minutes, then season with salt.
3
Temper the dal: crackle mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried chilies, and the sliced onion in coconut oil, then pour it over the dal.
✎ Chef’s note
That final sizzling tempering (thel dala) poured over the top is what perfumes the whole dal, so make it fresh right before serving.
4
Make the pol sambol: pound (or pulse) the grated coconut with chili flakes, chopped onion, Maldive fish (or miso), lime juice, and salt into a damp, brick-red relish.
5
Serve both over rice: the creamy dal, then a small fierce heap of the sambol.
Southern Province rice-and-curry tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Southern Province. The southern signature is ambul thiyal, which is closer to a drying method than a curry. Fish is rubbed with salt, pepper and goraka, a sour dried fruit, then cooked in a covered clay pot until the liquid has gone entirely, leaving it keeping for days in a cupboard with no cold at all.
🗺️
Sri Lanka. Kottu is eastern rather than Colombo food, from Batticaloa and Trincomalee and the Sri Lankan Moor community, and it is as much sound as dish, godamba roti chopped on a hot plate with two blades in a rhythm you can hear from the street. Hoppers are the other trick, a fermented rice-and-coconut batter swirled up the sides of a small bowl-shaped pan.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Sri Lanka
Fish Ambul Thiyal (Sour Fish Curry)Sri Lanka’s dry sour fish curry: firm fish coated in a jet-black paste of goraka and black pepper and cooked down until every piece wears a tangy, peppery crust.
Kottu RotiChopped flatbread stir-fried with curry, vegetables, and egg on a clanging griddle, Colombo’s midnight anthem.
Hoppers (Appa)Bowl-shaped fermented rice-and-coconut pancakes, lacy at the edges and soft in the middle.
Browse all Sri Lanka recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Sri Lanka meal
Kiri Te (Sri Lankan Milk Tea)Drink
WatalappanDessert
LampraisLunch
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Parippu & Pol Sambol?
Creamy coconut-milk red lentils with a fiery fresh coconut-chili relish, the twin pillars of a Lankan rice table.
Where does Parippu & Pol Sambol come from?
Parippu & Pol Sambol is a Sri Lankan dish from Southern Province, Sri Lanka.
Can Parippu & Pol Sambol be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Parippu & Pol Sambol recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Parippu & Pol Sambol safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Parippu & Pol Sambol take to make?
About 45 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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