Gotukola sambola recipe
Gotu kola sambola or gotukola salad is a delicious and healthy dish from Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, we have a habit of adding at least one green for our meal. Most of the greens are eaten raw as sambola/salad. One of the popular green leaves among them is Gotu Kola.
Gotukola
Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) has many health benefits. In Sri Lanka, it is being used for traditional Ayurveda medicine. Mainly it is good for memory and brain. Other than that, it is good for eyes, hair, blood vessels, skin and there are so many benefits. Just search for ‘Gotu Kola’. You may amaze with its super health benefits.
We mainly eat Gotu kola raw as a salad and also include the root of it to be more healthier. I really don’t like its taste once it is cooked into curry or mallung. But another way of having this plant is as a herbal porridge.(kola kanda)
This is one of our favourites. I can still eat a plate of this salad with added fresh lime juice. May be it is due to habit of my mother. She frequently added this to our meals saying it enhance our memory.
Here is the Sri Lankan recipe for Gotu kola sambola/salad.
Recipe : Gotukola Sambola
Ingredients (for 2-3 servings)
Handful of Gotu kola (Centella asiatica)
½ cup fresh grated coconut
2-3 small red onion/shallots sliced
2 green chili sliced
Salt to taste
1 tbspn lime juice
Method
Wash and clean Gotu kola. If gotu kola are with roots; clean the roots well and wash away thoroughly for any sand. Slice Gotu kola into very thin pieces. When it is thinner, sambola will be tastier.
Slice onion and green chili.
In a bowl, mix sliced gotukola,fresh coconut, onion, green chili and salt together with lime juice.
Gotukola sambola is ready to serve.
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Notes:
Mix the all ingredients just before serve to keep the freshness and taste.
Use fresh coconut and lime juice for more taste.
See also : Thebu kola sambola
27 comments
This gotu kola known as pegaga in Malaysia. This herb can reduce fever for dangue fever if we cook it as soup.
that’s a great information,thanks,I didnt know that before…
Have never tried this one. Should see if we can get it here
it is really delicious and healthy….
Wow I love this, so healthy and I luv greens too.
amy…never knew all these recipes. one fact about its health benefits makes the dish tempting to taste
Very nice greens & healthy too!
looks very tempting in the banana leaf,yumm:)
thanks Julie….yes,food in banana leaf are always delicious…
Hi Amy, I just got back from Sri Lanka and loved this Sambol so much. I don’t think we can get Gotu Kola leave where I live, can you suggest a substitute?
Hi Sheena,Glad you liked Gotu kola sambola much during your stay in Sri lanka.I am sure you enjoyed your holiday! Yes,you may not find Gotu Kola in your country or it may not popular in markets.It is same for me in Singapore.Therefore I have tried same sambola recipe with other greens.Arugula is my latest finding and it is perfect as a raw sambola.I tried with Fenugreek leaves and it came out delicious too.You can also use young leaves of Passion fruit if easily available.The taste may be different slightly as these are different leaves.But,still delicious and we love the taste.Please check below links for the related recipes with other leaves.
https://foodcnr.com/sri-lankan-arugula-sambola/
https://foodcnr.com/passion-fruit-leaves-sambola/
https://foodcnr.com/fenugreek-leaves-salad-uluhal-kola/
Love greens always. This is totally new to me dear. Looks delightful.
today’s recipe:
refollowed
your blog is beautiful xx
http://tarastreatsreviews.blogspot.co.uk/
Very new and definitely a super healthy salad.
love this salad , i am craving , so simple .lovely clicks
never heard it.. looks healthy and love the color of it
very innovative recipe dear..
new to me ….healthy dish… loved that color..nice click..
Ooh, this looks fantastic!! It sure looks healthy 🙂
Looks delicious! Thanx for sharing! Wonderful snaps!!
wow …it looks simply superb..it is a common plant in kerala but never known that it is edible..thanks for sharing this..
I don’t think we get Gotu kola in India.
Nevertheless, it is very inviting as always 🙂
@pavithra…..These are called BRAHMI leaves In India and are very easily available.
It is used in a lot of Ayurvedic medicines and homemade oils too.
It’s been very long time since i had gotukala, after coming to singapore i didn’t have chance to eat. BTW where do you get gotukala in Singapore, i’m quite sure the Gotukola in little india not the same as in Sri Lanka isnt’ it?
Nice post with lots of information.
thanks for the comment,yes,Gotukola which we buy from Little India is a different type.
This is from Sri Lanka.
Whoever come from Sri Lanka to visit us,I ask them to bring some Gotukola and some other greens…. 🙂
Hi,
Thanks very much for the share. First time finding out about adding the roots to the sambol. I will be trying out the recipe as soon as my gotukola crop yields next ? Can’t wait to try.
We add roots too to the Gotukola sambola due to its benefits.It is known as a memory enhancer. :)Be sure to wash properly to remove sand/soil. 🙂