Miruhu Lee Mas (Maldivian traditional curry)

Vedio : https://youtu.be/xW-gJ8TcxhE

For full recipe visit: http://www.nadiyaskitchen.com/tuna/miruhu-lee-mas-maldivian-traditional-curry/

Rihaakuru Dhiya

Rihaakuru dhiya is a very simple salty, spicy, creamy liquid mixture made to eat with rice or boiled taro or boiled unripe banana, breadfruit with grated coconut. It's eaten for lunch or dinner. Already rihaakuru is explained in the internet so I won’t go for an explanation about it. Traditional way of making Rihaakuru dhiya is by crushing sliced onion, chillies, curry leaves with lime juice and salt using finger tips and then adding all other ingredients accept dried fish. Dried fish is just my combination. It brings a different taste which I love. Using a food processor will make the entire flavor’s mix well. So here is my way of making Rihaakuru Dhiya.

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh thick coconut milk

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp good quality rihaakuru (thick fish paste)

1 pkt dried fish (optional)

1 medium onion (chopped)

4 dry roasted dry red chillies

1/2 of fresh chilly (githeyomirus)

Juice of 1 big lime

6 curry leaves

11/2 tsp salt

Method:

1_ In a food processor or grinder add onion, dried chilly, fresh chilly (chillies depends on how spicy you want it), curry leaves and dried fish, process until all the dried fish is in very small bits. Into this add half cup coconut milk, rihaakuru and lime juice, again process for one minute.

2_ Add this processed coconut milk into the rest of coconut milk and mix. Taste and adjust salt. Serve with rice or boiled taro or breadfruit and grated fresh coconut, smoked fish and a table spoon of home made lonumirus.  

Lettuce Mashuni (Lettuce Canned Tuna Salad)

Mashuni is a very popular salad Maldivians eat with roshi( Maldivian flat bread) for breakfast. There are many varieties of Mashuni, like dried or smoked fish mashuni, potato mashuni, eggplant mashuni, carrot mashuni, and so on. The main ingredients for mashuni is shredded coconut, fish, lime and chilly. Those who visit Male’ it’s very easy to taste this dish as almost all restaurants in Male’ serve Maldivian breakfast and If you want to make mashuni at home and you don’t have a coconut scrapper don’t worry I found out that shredded coconut is sold at felivaru fish shops. It’s frozen to maintain it’s freshness. I bought 3 packets and tested it. It’s very fresh. So the biggest problem is solved. In this recipe I have used lettuce for a much healthier version.

                                        Here is a picture of frozen grated coconut

Ingredients:

1 big onion ( thinly sliced)

1 fresh chilly ( chopped )

3 curry leaves (chopped)

11/2 tbs lime juice

1tsp salt

1/3 cup shredded coconut

1 can tuna (oil or water drained)

5 big lettuce leaves (chopped)

Method:

1_ In to a bowl add lime juice, salt, onion, chillies and curry leaves. Crush everything using finger tips, crush until onion gets soft. (Crushing chillies using fingers may cause burning sensation so wear a glove).

2_ In another bowl fluff canned tuna, into this add coconut mix very well, then add lettuce and mix everything.

3_ Into lettuce mixture add crushed onion mixture and mix to combine. Taste and adjust salt …… enjoy!

Kirukeyo

Kiru keyo I heard when one of my cousin requested me to find it’s recipe. I asked my mum about it and she said my late aunt cooks the best Kiru keyo. She said Kiru keyo is a dessert little thicker then kandhi . It was mostly enjoyed while having dinner or with afternoon hedika (Maldivian shorteats). Even in Ramadan after tharaaveese (Dinner) people use to drink it. My mum said Kiru keyo was a dessert cooked in Male’ (Capital island of Maldives) because she never heard or tasted it from any other island. Kiru keyo taste is very similer to kandi just the difference is banana is cut in a different way and it’s thicker and creamier. Traditional way of thickening Kiru keyo or Kandhi is with rice paste. My mum is a person who cooks these kinds of desserts very often it's kind of comforting food for her, so she showed me an easy and delicious way to thicken these desserts using corn flour. I have never seen my mum or our older generation cook food with measurements, that's why when ever I ask my mum to cook a recipe with measurement she won't like it, She cooks food without measuring and the great thing about it is no matter what she cooks everything tastes yummilicious. I guess our older generation have a magic hand. So here I bring you my mum’s way of cooking Kiru Keyo.

Ingredients:

6 cups water

6 cardamom pods

2 inch 3 piece cinnamon

2 inch 4 piece pandan leaf

3 cups sugar

3 unripe Saba Bananas ( dhon nuvaa maalhas keyo) + enough water to boil bananas

1 cup corn flour

2 cups thin coconut milk

1/2cup jasmine water (maafen)

1 cup thick coconut milk

Method:

1_ Peel skin off bananas and boil until soft but not mushy, cut each banana vertically, cut each half vertically, now cut bananas diagonally keeping thickness of half centimeter. Keep aside.

2_ Mix corn flour and 2 cups of thin coconut milk well, set aside.

3_ In a big pan add water, cardamom, cinnamon and pandan leaf cook until fragrant, now add sugar and mix until all sugar is dissolved.

4_ when all sugar is dissolved in water add boiled bananas and boil for 7 minutes. This will allow sugar syrup to soak the bananas.

5_ Add corn flour mixture into the sugar & banana syrup stirring constantly, cook until “Kirukeyo” thicken enough, that’s when back of a spoon is touched on the surface of Kirukeyo, it will coat a thick layer, than it’s cooked.

6_  Now add thick coconut milk & jasmine water cook two more minutes. Take out from stove cool and serve with hedikaa(short eats) ..... enjoy!

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Dhivehi Recipe Card, please do not make any copys of my recipes and photos without my permission. You can share it as it is and make good use of all recipes.  

                                                  

                                             

Canned Tuna Mas Bai ( Picnic Rice)

Here is another picnic rice recipe for your next picnic or pair it with some spicy dry vegetable curry and you have a satisfying meal for lunch or dinner.  My son & daughter are huge fans of Maldivian flavors so I served this canned tuna mas bai with teluli rihaakuru (fried fish paste) they loved it. My kids eat rice well when I serve rice with Maldivian foods like theluli rihaakuru (fried fish paste), mas fen (combination of smoked tuna, thick coconut milk, chilly, onion, curry leafs), rihaakuru with thick coconut milk or rihaakuru dhiya(combination of rihaakuru, thick coconut milk, onion, chilly lime). They like to munch cucumbers & tomatoes too when they eat rice with these Maldivian combinations. So I try to make these foods when they both are home.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice (washed)

1 tin canned tuna (oil or water drained)

1 big onion (sliced)

1 spring curry leaf

5 2inch pandan leaves

1 fresh chilly (giteyomirus)

5 cardamom pods

3 inch cinnamon stick

1 tbsp. whole pepper

¾ tsps. turmeric

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Water

Method:

1 – In a sauce pan big enough to cook rice add oil, onion, curry leafs, pandan leafs, chilly, cardamom, cinnamon, and pepper.  Sauté until onions get soft.

2 – When onions get soft add rice and sauté until rice color changes to a very very light brown or until the rice particles separates.

3 – Add water enough to cook rice into the rice & onion mixture, add turmeric. Cook just until big bubbles are forming on the rice now adds salt, fluff the canned tuna on to rice. Give a good stir and cook until all water is absorbed in to rice.

4 – Serve with Theluli rihaakuru (fried fish paste) or some dry vegetable curry …….. Enjoy!

Kulhi Baipen or Bonga Bonga

It seems that this is the breadfruit season as we are getting lot of breadfruits from our relatives. Yesterday my mum cooked a big pot of Bambukeyo bondibai, which is my favorite dessert and today I cooked Kulhi Baipen for lunch. I never cooked this before but have tasted it several times, if my memories are not so dim the last time I ate Kulhi Baipen was about six to seven years back. I remember the taste because I loved it so much.

Last night I asked my mum if she can tell me how to cook Kulhi Baipen but she said She wasn't so sure about all the ingredients used to cook it. I sat with a pen and paper started listing the ingredients per the long back taste of kulhi baipen. Today after I cooked, I invited my sisters & mum to taste it, I knew they would love it because the taste was just like the original recipe my grandmother used to cook. So here I share my version of Kulhi Baipen, which is so yummy, spicy and majaa (fun).

Ingredients:

3ltr’s water

1 cup rice (washed)

310 grams breadfruit (cut into bite size pieces )

1 big onion (Sliced)

2 garlic chopped

1 spring curry leaves

10 pcs pandan leaf

1/2 chilly ( githeyomirus, depends to your taste)

1 tsp ajinomoto

3 tbs good quality rihaakuru (fish paste)

½ of a medium smoked tuna  ( sliced in to bite size pieces, Valho mas falhieh)

3 tbs tomato paste

4 tbs Vegetable oil

Salt

For curry paste:

90 grms coconut

60 grm onion

9 grms garlic

6 grms dried chilly ( hiki mirus)

¾ tbs whole pepper

¾ tsp cumin seed

4 grms ginger

1 tbs lonumirus curry powder

¾ cup water

Method:

1 - Grind all curry paste ingredients in a food processor or a food grinder into a very fine paste. Leave aside.

2 - In a large sauce pan add 21/2 liters of water and rice, cook for 20 minutes on medium heat, now add bread fruit and cook until bread fruit & rice becomes very soft, so soft that it can be easily mashed using back of a wooden spoon. Mash soften breadfruits as much you can pressing bread fruits in the sides of pan using wooden spoon.

3 - In another sauce pan heat oil and add onion, garlic, curry leaves, pandan leaves and chilly fry until light brown.

4 - Put fried onion mixture into the breadfruit mixture. Add curry paste, smoked tuna, rihaakuru, tomato paste, salt and ajinomoto. Cook until the mixture turns into thick gravy, at this stage if the gravy is too thick add extra water and adjust salt per your taste. Serve hot ………….. enjoy! 

Note: 1-  Breadfruit used to cook this Baipen should not be ripe at all. Press fingers on the                         breadfruit if you cant press easily than it's not ripe.

          2-  In kulhi baipen the rice don't have to be mushy, just soft will be fine. 

Mussamaa Curry

Curries are the most important dish in Maldivian meals, no meal is complete without a curry whether super-hot, mild or sweet. I often get asked how to cook mussamaa curry from some of my readers, so I thought I would write it down and add it to my blog. This is a great recipe to eat with roshi or rice.

 Ingredients:

2 big tuna loins

To make mussamaa curry paste:

30 grams Fish curry powder

30 grams roasted curry powder

Medium onion chopped

½ tsp whole pepper

3 cloves garlic (chopped)

½ of a Maldivian chilly (githeyomirus)

1 spring curry leaves

4 cardamom

1 cinnamon stick about 2 inch

3tbs grated coconut

1/3tsp salt

1cup water

For the curry:-

2big onions sliced

12 curry leaves

2 pandan leaf (raanbaa fai)

Maldivian chilly

3cloves garlic

½ tsp ginger

1/3 cup sea almonds or kanamadu

½ pkt dried resins

4 cardamom pods

2 stick cinnamon

Vegetable oil

1 cup thin coconut milk

1/2cup thick coconut milk

1tbs sugar

Method:-

Assembling tuna rolls…

Process all curry paste ingredients in a food processor and take half of the paste, keep rest for later. Cut each tuna loin in to 5 portions and cut each portion in to 2inch wide to 3inch long thin strips or slices.

Take one piece of tuna and apply generous amount of curry paste on the inside of cut piece and roll the tuna piece like a swiss roll locking as much curry paste inside and tie the rolled tuna piece using a pandan strip or secure with a tooth pick.

Finish all the tuna pieces like this and leave in fridge to marinate for 3 hours or overnight.

To cook curry ..

Heat oil in a pan fry the sea almonds first just until slightly brown take out on to a plate, then fry resins until resins are puffed take on to the same plate, set aside. In the same pan add the onions, curry leaves, chilly, ginger, garlic cinnamon, cardamom and pandan leaves, fry until onions caramelizes. Into this add the thin coconut milk, rest of the curry paste and stir to dissolve.

Start to cook, add the marinated tuna, cook until tuna is cooked and the curry is thick add the thick coconut milk sprinkle 1tbs sugar cook for 2 minutes, sprinkle the sea almonds and resins, season with salt…. Enjoy!

Theluli Mas (Spicy Fried Fish)

Theluli mas or spicy fried fish is very common in Maldivian cuisine. The ingredients vary to prepare this fish from island to island. My recipe is a very easy recipe as “lonumirus curry powder” which is a combination of dried chilies & some spices sold almost in every local shops & it takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. This fish is a must on our dinner & lunch table.

This pic is taken from Google

Ingredients:

1 Tuna lion about 650 grms (cut vertically in to 1/3 inchthick steaks)

21/2tbs lonumirus curry powder

21/2tbs tomato paste

Salt

1/3 to 1/2 cup vegetable oil or olive oil

Method:

In a bowl mix lonumirus curry powder, tomato paste & salt, rub this paste on the tuna steaks & leave for ½ an hour covered with plastic wrap. Heat oil in a sauce pan & arrange the steaks, put lid on & cook on low heat until bottom is fried.

Turn the steaks to upside down & fry again until slightly crispy. I like bottom of my steaks to burn the paste lightly to give a stronger flavor. This goes well with anything, rice, roshi, bread  & even with boiled vegetables ………………………………………enjoy!

Cutlus Boakibaa (Cutlet savory Cake)

Cutlet is a savory short eat prepared for afternoon tea, parties and special occasions. There are two types, the normal cutlet & Egg Cutlet. Many local's favorite short eat even mine, so today I turned cutlets into a cake, which is more healthier and saved that time to do some other work. I mean cutlets we have to deep fry after making small balls dipped into beaten eggs, coated with bread crumbs, but boakibaa just put in the oven and let the oven do the job while I did some other work, and it tasted sooo yummy yum, my family loved it.

Ingredients

2medium onions (sliced thinly)

1Maldivian chilly (githeyomirus)

Juice of 2 limes

1/2tsp pepper powder

1tsp grated garlic

2cans of tuna in oil

1/2cup bread crumbs (faaroshi kundi)

3eggs (slightly beaten)

450grm potato (boiled and mashed)

1/2tsp ajinomoto 

Salt

4tbs vegetable oil

2tbs flour

Method:

Pre heat oven to 180C, generously oil a 9inch tray, sprinkle the flour into the tray and turn the tray to court inside completely, this helps prevent the boakibaa sticking to the tray and it will be easy to remove the boakibaa without breaking it. In a bowl put the onion, chilly, pepper powder, garlic, salt and lime juice, crush and mix onions using your fingertips to release the aroma, (while crushing the chilly use a food safe plastic glove because the chilly may cause serious burning sensation in your hand for couple of hour's which I am not able to tolerate). Add the bread crumbs, mashed potatoes, ajinomoto and tuna, mix to combine all ingredients at last add the beaten eggs and mix. Transfer this mixture to the oiled & floured tray, press to level using your hand and bake for 45min to 1hour. Different ovens temperature varies just keep on checking the upper side of the boakibaa will get crispy and dark in color when baked. Transfer the tray to a wire rack, cool little bit and remove the boakibaa from the tray. Serve hot with a cup of tea ................enjoy!!

Rihaakuru Garudiya (Fish paste soup)

Again some free days came on hand so I thought of making something local and rarely tasted nowadays to post on my blog. I don’t remember last few years making this soup so I was wondering if my kids will like it or not, but to my surprise they loved this soup with rice and smoked tuna. Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

1ltr water

3 to 5tbs Rihaakuru (Fish paste) depends on the quality

1small sour mango or billinbi (cut in to bite size pieces)

5dried chilies’

1mediun onion (cut in to lengthwise)

4cloves of garlic

1tsp ajinomoto

Curry leaves

Pandan leaves

Salt

Method:

Mix water and Rihaakuru in a saucepan, bring to a boil, if you see little scum remove it. When this starts to boil add all ingredients other than salt. Cook for about 5minutes or until the onions & chilies’ start to release its aroma, taste and season with salt. Serve with rice, Smoked fish and lonumirus ………..enjoy!!

Anbu Riha (ripe mango curry)

Hi my readers, I have been little far from blogging since some days sorry about that just busy with work so I am back with a local fruit curry recipe, my favorite fruit mango. Some few days back mangoes were lot at the market so I thought of making a curry as I love mango curry, my version may be little different with the local one but this was so yummy that I want to post this recipe.

Ingredients:

4ripe mangoes (skin peeled & sliced)

2big onions (sliced)

12curry leaves

5pandan leaves (2inch each)

4garlic (chopped)

1/2inch ginger (chopped)

Maldives chilly (githeyomirus)

4tbs chicken curry powder

2tbs roasted curry powder

1/2tsp lonumirus curry powder or chilly powder

1tsp garam masala powder

2tbs tomato paste

Tuna fish chips or smoked tuna( I added about 85grms)

1/2cup thick coconut milk

2cups of water

1/3cups of vegetable oil

21/2tbs sugar

salt

Method:

In a sauce pan heat oil, add onion, curry leaves, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic, Maldives chilly, sauté until onions turns to light brown. Add all the curry powder and tomato paste roast until oil separates from the onions, add the mangoes, tuna chips & water.

Cook until mangoes get soft. Now add coconut milk and sugar, cook for another five minutes. Season with salt & serve with rice………………………………….enjoy!