Egg Hoppers: Bowls of Innovation

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I had mastered the art of eating string hoppers, Araliya Green

City (araliyagreencity.com) in Nuwara Eliya surprised me with egg hoppers. Set near the Seetha Amman Temple and Gregory Lake, the naturally landscaped Araliya Green City offers forest views while their chefs expertly craft refined Lankan dishes. I got the taste of my first egg hopper in its ground-floor restaurant, Fresh N Warm. These bowl-shaped rice and coconut crêpes have a soft-boiled egg in the centre. They were paired with sambol, crisp coconut meat, and caramelised onions splashed with Lankan spices. To eat egg hoppers like the Lankans do, either crush them into the sambol or layer up the poppadom-like crust with coconut meat before you dig in. Wash it all down with some piping hot filter coffee.

Egg hoppers are bowl-shaped rice and coconut crêpes with a soft-boiled egg in the centre.