Hanaakuri Mas ( Havaadu nagaigen)

Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGFy-SdidcI&feature=youtu.be

For full recipe visit: http://www.nadiyaskitchen.com/tuna/hanaakuri-mas-havaadu-nagaigen/

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/

Kashikeyo Baipen

Baipen is called to a rice gruel cooked with tiny discernible rice grains. This can be cooked as a dessert or as a savory gruel. In all sweet baipen all other ingredients other than screw pine which I have mentioned in the ingredient list are used. Savory baipen is cooked using some spices, breadfruit, crushed dried tuna, rice etc.

My family is from capital Male'  we have our own home located in Henveyru and since a baby I have been living here and haven't seen a single Screw pine tree ever in this island, but of course Screw pines are always available at the local Market which is expensive to buy for business purposes so my mum brings Screw pines from some of the near by islands. She makes screw pine cakes for orders that’s why she keeps good stock in her freezer.

To keep screw pine for 4 to 5 months my mum slices screw pines and grind it than put it in an airtight container and freeze it, this does not bring any difference to the taste of screw pines. 

Ingredients:

3 liter water

2 big sticks of cinnamon

16 cardamom pods

1 big pandan leaf cut in to 2 inch pieces

1 cup basmati rice (washed)

3 cups (sliced or grind) pressed screw pines

3 cups thick coconut milk

3 cups sugar

11/4 cups Jasmine water (Jasmine flower infused water)

Method:

1-      Put first four ingredients in a pan and cook until fragrant.

2-      Add rice, cook until rice gets mushy.

3-      Add sugar and screw pine, cook until all sugar is dissolved

4-      Add coconut milk & Jasmine flower infused water stir and serve hot or cold …. Enjoy! 

    Note: For this recipe Instead of fresh coconut milk canned or packet 100% coconut milk can be used this will not bring any difference to the taste but not the powdered coconut milk. If Jasmine water is not available rose water will be fine, don't put it as much I have mentioned for Jasmine water, may be 1/3rd cup will bring the taste just taste and adjust to your taste buds. This is a huge pot my cooked for all of us around 10 servings can be taken from this amount.
    

Hithala fu

Hithala is a kind of root vegetable or fruit belonging to the Pachyrhizus erosus or Jícama family. Fu in Maldivian language is flour, but Hithala fu is not in flour form, if you rub Hithala fu particles between your fingers, then it will break very easily to powder form. My mum use to make different kinds of desserts, cakes using hithala fu. Even she put Hithala fu rubbed little between her fingers in to hot tea, after sometime hithala fu will turn translucent. My mum says when it turns translucent that means the Hithala fu is cooked in the hot tea and it is ready to drink adding a pinch of pepper powder and sugar. This tea is called "Hithala fushu Sai". I too love this tea.

It has been sometime since I bought a small bag of Hithala fu from a local shop, which is not much available these days in the local market. I love anything made from Hithala fu so I thought I will make one of the dessert or cake and post in my blog, but I had a problem because I didn't know how Hithala fu was made. If I am posting or writing about a new product which will be new to the world I like to give a small explanation about what it is, so I asked my mum and the way she explained nothing was getting into my head.

This morning I was sitting with my mum & her sister for morning cup of coffee. My aunt does not live in Male' but some of her children lives in Male', she came for her eldest son's wedding. I asked my aunt about how Hithala fu was made because I knew she will be more familiar to these kinds of local products then my mum as she is the second eldest and she has been living at the island since childhood up to now. She did explain to me briefly how Hitala fu is made.

First the Hithala or Pachyrhizus erosus or Jícama is dug out from the ground, then it is washed properly and skin is peeled. A rough stone call "hiri gaa" is used for grating Hithala, the stone is cleaned and washed properly and placed in a container full of water, then the Hithala is rubbed on the stone so it will get grated roughly. After grating is finished, the stone is taken out and water is strained again new water is put into the grated Hithala container and left for several hours. Changing water like this will go on for three to fifteen days until the impurities (impurities they say the water turning to reddish color) are gone from the Hithala, at this stage Hithala will be grind or rubbed on a stone grinder to make a fine paste, then this paste will be mixed with water and left for several hours until the powder goes down the water container (Powder & water separates). If water is not clear again the washing with water will continue until water gets clear. When the water gets clear, water is drained properly from the paste. Now the Hithala will be in a dough paste like texture, then an aluminum sheet is put under the sun and the Hithala dough is pressed inside a holed coconut shell to make small rod like pieces, then left to dry under the sun for several days. Below is the picture of final product which we call Hithala fu.

 Hithala Fu (Used to make sweet desserts or teas in Maldives)

 I have given this information about Hithala because my next recipe is Hithala fushu Folhi