ASIAN CUISINE

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are going to the beautiful country of

The Maldives

Maldivian cuisine also called Dhivehi cuisine is the cuisine of the Nation of Maldives and of Minicoy, India. The traditional cuisine of Maldivians is based on three main items and their derivatives: coconuts, fish and starches.

The coconut is used in the grated form, squeezed to obtain coconut milk, or as coconut oil in dishes that are deep-fried. The hunigondi is the traditional Maldivian implement used to grate the coconut. It is a long low chair with a serrated steel blade at its end. Grated coconut is used in dishes such as mas huni.

The favourite fish is skipjack tuna, either dried or fresh. Other similar fish species that are part of the average Maldivian diet are little tunny (latti), yellowfin tuna (kanneli), frigate tuna (raagondi), bigeye scad (mushimas), wahoo (kurumas), mahi-mahi (fiyala) and mackerel scad (rimmas). These can be eaten boiled or processed.

MASROSHI

FILLING:

2 cups smoked tuna – diced/sliced (substitute: 3 cans Light meat tuna chunks)

1 cup coconut – scraped/grated

1 Scotch Bonnet chilies (githeyo mirus) – finely chopped

⅓ cup curry leaves – finely chopped

1 cup onion – finely sliced

5 cloves garlic – pressed/grated/very finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger – grated

½ cup lemon juice

Salt to taste

DOUGH:

3 cups flour – sifted

1 tsp salt

⅓ cup vegetable oil

Warm water

DIRECTIONS:

1Using your hand, squash together the onions, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, chilies, lemon juice, and salt.

2Add the tuna and coconut, and mix until it becomes a sticky mixture.

3Shape the mixture into small balls (about 1 inch in diameter).

FOR THE DOUGH

1Add the oil and salt into the flour.

2Add warm water and knead until you have a dry, smooth dough. (Add the water gradually to make sure the dough does not turn out too sticky.

3Shape the pieces of dough into cups and place filling inside; then close the cups and smooth into balls.

COOKING

1Warm a shallow, non-stick skillet over the stove.

2Using a rolling pin, gently flatten out the filled balls into small round circles (about 3 inch in diameter)

3When the skillet is warm enough, place the masroshi on them. Keep flipping every few minutes so both sides cook evenly.

TIP

1If you would like the masroshi to be crispier, then add a cup of grated/shredded coconut to flour when making the dough.

We hope you liked this post and as always have a chilled day form the viking.