Kulhi Faaroshi Pudding (Savory Faaroshi Pudding)

Faaroshi is a hard, thick not so sweet biscuit sold at almost all local shops, bakeries and stores in Maldives. It is used mostly in sweet dishes and very few savory dishes, we eat this biscuit dipped in tea or milk too. It gets soaked very easily. I love to eat this biscuit mixed with curry. I can remember the good old times when I return from school my mum use to keep faaroshi and dhal curry for me.

Puddings are usually sweet, but it can be made savory too. This version, brimming with faaroshi, canned tuna, dried tomatoes and sharp cheddar, is deeply flavored with a crisp, golden crust and tender, creamy interior. We loved it, tastes like eating a kind of lasagna. For this recipe I used canned tuna as a meat but chicken or minced beef also can be used, just it has to be cooked little longer.  

Ingredients

5 tbs vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 chilly, chopped (githeyomirus)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

5 curry leaves, chopped

1 tin tuna chunks (in oil) or 200 grms boneless chicken, chopped to bite size pieces

222 grms faaroshi

1 cup cheddar cheese (grated)

1/3 cup chopped dried tomatoes (optional)

6 large eggs

2 cups milk

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

1 tsp paprika

Method:

1_Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking dish or pan with oil. Put faaroshi into a zip lock bag and using a rolling pin crush until some are chunks, some crumbs, put in to a bowl and leave aside.

2_In a sauce pan over medium-high heat, add oil. Add the onion, chilly, garlic and curry leaves stirring constantly until soft, about 10 minutes. Add tuna and mix everything and cook 2 minutes or if using chicken continue stirring and cooking add extra oil if needed, cook until chicken is cooked.

3_Add the meat mixture to a mixing bowl with faaroshi chunks and crumbs, grated cheese and dried tomatoes. Toss well, then spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan.

4_In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, ground pepper and paprika.

5_Pour the egg mixture evenly over the faaroshi mixture, cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in fridge for 2 hour’s so that all the faaroshi will get nicely soaked.

6_Preheat the oven to 200 C. Bake for about one hour, until puffed and golden brown. Serve immediately.... enjoy!