A typical Maldivian meal: masroshi pastries, mas riha fish curry, papadhu, grilled fish, rice and sweet black tea.
Maldivian food revolves largely around fish (mas), in particular tuna (kandu mas), and draws heavily from the Sri Lankan and south Indian tradition, especially Kerala. Dishes are often hot, spicy and flavored with coconut, but use very few vegetables. A traditional meal consists of rice, a clear fish broth called garudhiya and side dishes of lime, chili and onions. Curries known as riha are also popular and the rice is often supplemented with roshi, unleavened bread akin to Indian roti, and papadhu, the Maldivian version of crispy Indian poppadums. Some other common dishes include:
mas huni ? shredded smoked fish with grated coconuts and onions, the most common Maldivian breakfast
fihunu mas ? barbequed fish basted with chili
bambukeylu hiti ? breadfruit curry
Snacks called hedhikaa, almost invariably fish-based and deep-fried, can be found in any Maldivian restaurant.
bajiya ? pastry stuffed with fish, coconut and onions
gulha ? pastry balls stuffed with smoked fish
keemia ? deep-fried fish rolls
kulhi borkibaa ? spicy fish cake
masroshi ? mas huni wrapped in roshi bread and baked
theluli mas ? fried fish with chili and garlic
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Maldives
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Maldives Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.