To experience a place and people, sometimes you just need to blow up your palate with some local food.
“Mas huni” is a favourite local dish among the travellers visiting the Maldives. Mas huni is mostly taken at breakfast and is present at the breakfast buffets in almost all the cafés in the capital city Male’, in the small cafés on the local islands as well as in the restaurants of the different categories of resorts throughout the Maldives.
The main ingredients are tuna fish and scraped coconut. This dish is easy and can be prepared quickly. Among other ingredients are onion, green chillies or githeyomirus, lime and salt.
“Mas huni” goes well along with roshi. Roshi is a version of the Indian roti, but the Maldivian flat bread (Roshi) is very soft, thin and round in shape.
“Mas huni” are two words and when translated “mas” means fish and “huni” means scraped coconut. Obviously “Mas huni” will not be Mas huni without “mas” and “huni”.
To prepare “Mas huni”, mix finely sliced onions, finely sliced green chillies, juice of lime and salt to taste. When all these ingredients are mixed well, add the tuna flakes and mix again. Lastly, add the scraped coconut and gently mix in well. Just be careful not to squeeze the scraped coconuts too much when mixing it with the rest of the ingredients as this may cause the taste to differ. Remember not to milk it and equal proportions of the “huni” –coconut and “mas” – fish will bring out the delicious flavor of this dish.
This is how the original “Mas huni” has been made for centuries. Smoked tuna was originally used to make “Mas huni” by our ancestors, long before the tuna flake cans and packets came into the market.
If you take a stroll among the cafés dotted all around the capital city Male’, you might see different mixes of Mas huni now. More people are modifying the original “Mas huni”, using dried fish and dried chillies too. This mix of Mas huni may look different from the original Mas huni as the colour will change with the dried red chillies.
Mas huni with Roshi are present on all breakfast buffets and is a favourite for the morning break too though it can be taken throughout the day or as a snack. Normally, a cup of black tea goes well with this Roshi & Mas huni Breakfast. Although with the changing trends, Mas huni & Roshi Breakfast is taken with a cup of coffee too.
Mas huni is a burst of fresh flavours – the light meaty flavor of the tuna, the zest of the lime and the spicy flavor of the fresh chillies.
Mas huni and Roshi is a favourite among young and old, Maldivians and foreigners alike. When in the Maldives, remember to try it out! If you like and love it, grab a can of tuna and a coconut before you leave the Maldives. You can try it in your kitchen too! The Famous English Chef Jamie Oliver did!
Check out YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLcnlAaYeWY
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