String hoppers are made from a hot-water dough of rice meal or wheat flour. This is pressed out in circlets from a string mould onto little wicker mats, then steamed. Light and lacy, string hoppers make a mouth-watering meal with curry and sambol. String hopper moulds and mats are available from your Sri Lankan grocer.My choice is wheat flour; though you have to steam the flour first. Using rice flour gives you a basic rice noodle in a different shape.
Fresh pol sambol is great with everything and is served with nearly every meal. We used to wait until the hot bread arrived from the bakery next door and then put a big spoonful of it on the hot bread. Fresh coconut should be used with this dish, as dry or desiccated isn't as juicy. When we arrived in Australia in 1979, it was very hard to get a fresh coconut, so we used to re-constitute the desiccated with some warm water. It’s not as good as fresh, but is acceptable.
I have used paprika solely to give the sambol a rich red colour; you can use more red chilli if you prefer it very hot. The sambol is supposed to be an orangey red colour.