Heat, explained
Is Sri Lankan Food Too Spicy? An Honest Answer
Sri Lankan food is spiced heavily but not uniformly hot. At Rawana in Milan, dishes labelled "devilled" or "spicy" are genuinely hot; curries are aromatic and warm rather than burning; and biriani, fried rice, noodles and most fried dishes carry almost no chilli heat. Heat can be adjusted on most dishes if you ask when ordering.
- Address
- Via Giuseppe Cesare Abba 7, 20158 Milano
- Open
- Mon, Wed, Thu 12:00–15:30 and 17:00–23:00 · Fri 12:30–23:00 · Sat 12:30–15:00 and 18:00–23:00 · Sun 12:00–23:00 · Closed Tuesday
- Phone
- 324 796 5832
This is the question we get asked most often, usually at the door and usually by someone who has been told once that Sri Lankan food is "the spiciest in the world". So let's be straight about it, dish by dish.
The heat scale, honestly
- No real heat — Chicken biriani, nasi goreng, fried rice, noodles, gyoza, gamberi kataifi · Aromatic, savoury. Spice you smell, not spice you feel
- Mild–warm — Most coconut curries — chicken, fish, vegetable · A slow warmth that builds and then stops. Coconut milk carries the spice and softens it
- Warm–medium — Kottu, chopsuey, most stir-fried dishes · Pepper-forward. Noticeable, comfortable
- Hot — Mutton and beef curries, Hanuma's Spicy · Real chilli. Rice and a drink handle it
- Genuinely hot — Anything devilled · Sweet, sour and sharply hot at once. This is the category to respect
Why "spiced" and "spicy" are not the same thing
Sri Lankan curry powder is dark-roasted — coriander, cumin, fennel, cinnamon and curry leaf toasted until almost black before grinding. That roast is where most of the flavour lives, and it has nothing to do with chilli. Layer on fresh coconut, pandan leaf, lemongrass, and a souring agent like goraka or tamarind, and you get a dish that tastes enormous without necessarily being hot.
That's the distinction that matters when you order. A Sri Lankan curry is *more spiced* than almost anything on an Italian menu. It is not necessarily *hotter* than a good arrabbiata.
What "devilled" means
Devilled dishes — devilled chicken, devilled prawns, devilled cuttlefish — are a Sri Lankan bar-food tradition: protein tossed in a wok with onion, capsicum, tomato, chilli and a sweet-sharp sauce. They are the dishes that were built to be eaten with a cold drink, and they are meant to be hot. If you want to know what Sri Lankan heat actually feels like, order one, and order rice with it.
If you don't, avoid the word "devilled" on the menu and you'll be entirely fine.
Can you make it milder?
Yes, on most dishes — but tell your server when you order, not when the plate arrives. Curries are finished to order and heat can be dialled down. A few dishes are what they are: the devilled family and Hanuma's Spicy are built around chilli, and taking the heat out would leave a different dish.
The reverse also works. If you want it hotter than the menu default, say so. The kitchen is Sri Lankan and it will happily oblige.
Ordering for a mixed table
The realistic case: four people, one of whom loves chilli and one of whom really doesn't. Order like this:
- One devilled dish for the chilli lover
- One coconut curry at standard heat for the middle of the table
- One kottu — warm but not hot
- One biriani or fried rice as the safe, delicious anchor
- Plenty of plain rice, which is the actual fire extinguisher
Nobody suffers and nobody is bored. More on building a first order: what to order the first time.
What actually cools chilli heat
Not water, and not beer — both spread it. What works: plain rice, coconut milk (already in the curry), and anything with dairy or sugar. Which is one reason watalappan exists at the end of a Sri Lankan meal.
Book a table and tell us your heat preference in the notes — we'll cook to it. +39 324 796 5832
Come and eat it, rather than read about it.
Via Giuseppe Cesare Abba 7, Dergano, Milan. Book online, or call and someone who works in the room will pick up.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
And if it isn't here, just call. Someone who actually works in the room will pick up.
Sri Lankan food is heavily spiced but only some dishes are hot. Curries are aromatic and warm; devilled dishes are genuinely hot; biriani, fried rice and noodles have almost no chilli heat.
Often yes at the hot end, because Sri Lankan cooking uses more raw chilli in devilled and sambol dishes. But Sri Lankan curries also have a tangier, coconut-softened profile that many people find easier than a heavy North Indian curry.
Yes. Tell your server when you order and most curries and stir-fried dishes can be prepared milder. Devilled dishes cannot be made mild without changing the dish.
Devilled means the protein is stir-fried with onion, capsicum, tomato, chilli and a sweet-sharp sauce. It is the hottest category on the menu.
Chicken biriani or nasi goreng — aromatic rice dishes with no meaningful chilli heat.