Gotukola explained, the leaf Sri Lanka eats every day

Gotukola is a small, round, green leaf of the parsley family that Sri Lankans eat raw in a coconut sambol beside rice, or drink at breakfast as kola kenda, a warm green porridge. At Ohana it is in the Gotukola Green Salad, 1,800 LKR, and in two of our Ayurvedic shots.

What is gotukola?

The plant is Centella asiatica, known in English as Asiatic or Indian pennywort. It belongs to the same family as carrot and parsley, and it grows low along the ground on thin runners, in damp places across tropical Asia. Each leaf sits on its own long stalk and is round to kidney-shaped, with a scalloped edge.

The name is Sinhala. Kola means leaf, and gotu describes the leaf's shape, like a small cone turned over. Tamil speakers call it vallarai. At the market you will see two kinds: a small-leaved one, heen gotukola, and a large-leaved one, maha gotukola. The whole plant is picked by hand, stalks and all.

The taste is green and grassy, a little bitter, somewhere between parsley and watercress. It is fresher than it is strong, which is why it is eaten in handfuls and not in pinches.

How do Sri Lankans eat it?

Mostly raw, as gotukola sambol. The leaves and tender stalks are washed and shredded very fine, then tossed with freshly grated coconut, chopped onion, green chilli, lime juice and salt. Nothing is cooked. It goes on the plate beside rice and curry, as the cool, green, sharp thing that wakes up everything else. You may also hear it called a mallum, the island's word for finely shredded greens with coconut.

A sambol is made just before the meal. Once the lime is on the leaves, they do not wait well.

What is kola kenda?

Kola kenda is the green porridge of a Sri Lankan morning. Rice, often red rice, is cooked very soft with plenty of water. Coconut milk goes in, and then the juice of fresh green leaves, stirred in near the end so that the colour stays bright. Gotukola is the leaf used most often, though cooks use other greens too.

It is drunk hot from a cup or a bowl, with a small piece of jaggery on the side. You take a sip, then a bite: the sugar softens the bitterness of the leaves. There is more about the morning table in Sri Lankan breakfast, explained.

Gotukola is not only Sri Lankan. In Myanmar it is the heart of a salad with onions, peanuts and lime, and in Thailand and Vietnam it is pressed into a cold green drink.

What does Ayurveda say about it?

In Ayurveda, gotukola is considered a herb for the mind and the memory, and it has long been used on the skin as well. That is a very old tradition, and it is one reason the leaf is on so many Sri Lankan tables.

Modern research has not confirmed these uses. Reviews of the clinical trials have found no strong evidence, and we make no claim. There is also a difference between a leaf on a plate and a concentrated extract in a capsule. If you take gotukola as a supplement, or you are pregnant or on medicines, that is a question for your doctor. Here it is a salad leaf. It is food, not medicine.

Where is gotukola on our menu?

• Gotukola Green Salad, 1,800 LKR. Whole leaves of gotukola with lettuce, spinach, cucumber and grated carrot in our Italian dressing. It is vegan.
• Focus Shot, 1,200 LKR. 60 ml, bright green: gotukola blended with king coconut water, mint and ginger, with a little moringa.
• Glow Shot, 1,350 LKR. The sweet one: cocoa, banana and dates blended with gotukola leaves.
• The Ohana Ritual, 3,300 LKR. Our three Ayurvedic shots, 40 ml each, on a wooden board. Two of the three hold gotukola.
• Matcha Vitality Bowl, 2,900 LKR. Avocado, banana and matcha blended thick with spinach, gotukola and moringa, under passion fruit and seeds.
• With the big fish. The Ohana Seafood Platter, 18,900 LKR for two or three, and the Red Snapper for Two, 15,900 LKR, both come with a big gotukola salad.

You will also find it where you do not expect it. The fresh herbs we chop over many plates are parsley, coriander and gotukola together: on the Yemeni Shakshuka, the Egg Salad Toast and the Veggie Bowl, among others. And a Focus Boost, 800 LKR, is 40 ml of the green shot poured into a juice or a cooler.

The names Focus and Glow are names. They describe a taste and a mood, not a result.

How should a first-timer try it?

Start with the salad, beside something rich. The leaf's slight bitterness is at its best next to grilled fish, coconut and lime, which is how the island eats it. If you like green drinks, take the Focus Shot after it. If you do not, the Glow Shot hides the leaf behind cocoa and dates.

Gotukola is one of the plants that make this island's cooking taste like nowhere else. You can read about another in curry leaf, or karapincha, and see the rest of what the island grows and how we cook it on our restaurant page.

Good to know

• The Gotukola Green Salad and the platters are on the lunch and dinner menu, from 11:00 to 21:00. The Ayurvedic shots are served all day, from 08:00.
• The Matcha Vitality Bowl is a breakfast dish, served from 08:00 to 11:00.
• Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge. Filtered water is on the house.
• Tell us about any allergy: ours is one shared kitchen.
• We are at Turtle Beach, Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya.