Southern Curd and Treacle

Buffalo milk is set into curd in unglazed clay pots that draw off some of the moisture and leave it thick, and it is eaten with kithul treacle, the boiled-down sap of the fishtail palm, which is darker and smokier than cane syrup and is the whole point of the pairing. Along the roads of the deep south the pots hang in rows outside stalls, and the combination is the standard end to a meal across the region.

What you actually see

• The clay pots - unglazed vessels the curd is set and sold in.
• The buffalo curd - thicker and tangier than cow's milk yoghurt.
• The kithul treacle - dark palm syrup with a smoky note, poured over.
• The roadside stalls - pots hung in rows along the southern coast roads.

When to go

Year round; the stalls run daily along the coast roads. Curd is made fresh in the morning. Kithul tapping is seasonal but the treacle keeps.

Honest expectations

A good deal of what is sold as kithul treacle is adulterated with cane sugar, which flattens the taste. Buffalo curd sold in tourist restaurants is often cow's milk. The clay pot is part of the price and is meant to be kept.

Nearby

Tangalle is central to the stall country, and Kataragama is northeast.