Boshi Mashuni

Ingredients

The banana flower

• 1banana flower
• the large purple bud
• or 2 tins of banana blossom
• drained and rinsed

For soaking

• a large bowl of water
• juice of 2 limes
• or 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoonsalt

The dressing

• 150 gfresh grated coconut
• or 100 g desiccated coconut
• soaked in warm water
• 1onion, very finely chopped
• 2hot chillies, finely chopped
• or to taste
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• half a teaspoon ground cumin
• optional
• a quarter teaspoon turmeric
• a few curry leaves, shredded
• optional

Sometimes added

• 2 tablespoonssmoked tuna
• valhoamas, grated
• or tinned tuna, flaked finely
• 1 tablespooncoconut oil

To serve

• with rice and a fish curry
• or with roshi, the flatbread
• as part of a Maldivian meal

Directions

1. Rub oil onto your hands before you start. Oil your knife and your board too. Cut banana flower oxidises within minutes. Add lime juice or vinegar and salt to plenty of water. Drop every piece into it as you cut. Do not let cut pieces sit in air at all. Peel off the outer purple bracts one at a time. Others keep them after removing two parts.
2. Pull both out and discard them. That is done floret by floret and it is slow. Use the pale tender heart instead. Keep peeling away bracts as they get paler. It is about the size of a large egg. Cut the heart in half lengthways. Slice it as finely as you can.
3. Drop the shreds straight into the acid water. Rinse it well, since the brine is strong. Drain the shredded flower from the soaking water. Boil it in fresh salted water for about ten minutes. It should soften but keep some bite.
4. Squeeze out as much water as you can. Wet flower makes a watery salad. Let it cool before dressing it. Desiccated coconut is dry and it must be rehydrated.
5. Cover it with warm water for twenty minutes. Squeeze it out before using it. Put the cooked flower in a bowl. Add the grated coconut. Add the very finely chopped onion. Add the chopped chillies. Add the turmeric and cumin.
6. Add the shredded curry leaves if you have them. Mix it with your hands rather than a spoon. Squeeze and rub the mixture as you go. Do that for a minute or two.
7. Mix again and taste it. It should be sour, salty and hot. Add more lime if it tastes flat. Maldivian food is genuinely hot. Adjust the chilli to your own tolerance. If you buy tinned tuna, look for pole-and-line or MSC certification.

Technique

• Have a bowl of water with lime juice and salt ready before you cut anything. Banana flower browns within minutes of being cut — faster than apple or avocado — so every piece goes straight into the acid water. The soak also draws out bitterness.
• Oil your hands, knife and board first, or wear gloves. Banana flower exudes a sticky white latex that stains, goes brown and sets hard, and oiled surfaces let it wipe away instead.
• Peel down to the pale tender heart and use that. Keeping the individual florets means pulling a stiff stamen and a clear plastic-like petal out of each one, which is slow and mostly what Maldivian cooks skip for this dish.
• One large flower gives a surprisingly small heart. Buy accordingly.
• Boil the shredded flower for about ten minutes and squeeze it dry. Raw it is astringent and fibrous; wet it makes a watery salad.
• Mix with your hands, squeezing and rubbing rather than stirring. That is what mashuni means in practice — it bruises the onion, releases its juice and works the coconut through. The texture changes noticeably.
• Tinned banana blossom is prepared and packed in brine, which skips the whole preparation. Rinse it well since the brine is strong; the texture is softer than fresh and it works fine.
• Use unsweetened desiccated coconut and rehydrate it in warm water for twenty minutes, then squeeze it out. Sweetened coconut is entirely wrong here. Frozen grated coconut from an Asian grocer is a much better substitute.
• Push the seasoning — sour, salty and hot together, with the coconut softening all three. Maldivian food is genuinely hot; a flat mashuni needs more lime before it needs anything else.
• The banana flower is food that would otherwise be discarded, which matters on low coral islands with thin soil where coconut, banana and breadfruit are much of what grows and almost everything else is imported.
• Grated smoked tuna added here moves the dish towards mas huni, the far better known Maldivian breakfast salad. Without it, this is vegan. Buying tinned tuna, look for pole-and-line or MSC certification — Maldivian tuna is pole-and-line caught with very little bycatch, and skipjack is in better shape than the severely depleted bluefin.

Substitutions

• Tinned banana blossom replaces fresh and removes the entire preparation.
• Frozen grated coconut replaces fresh closely; unsweetened desiccated, rehydrated, is the fallback.
• Shredded green papaya or green mango can stand in for banana flower, though the texture differs.
• Tinned tuna replaces smoked Maldivian valhoamas, which is hard to find abroad.
• Leave out the fish entirely for a vegan version, which is also traditional.
• Vinegar replaces lime in the soaking water; use lime in the dressing itself.

Variations

• Mas huni, shredded smoked tuna with coconut, onion and chilli, is the Maldivian breakfast standard.
• Kopee fai mashuni uses spinach-like leaves in place of banana flower.
• Bashi mashuni, made with aubergine, is another vegetable version.
• Thai yam hua plee dresses banana flower with lime, chilli and often prawns.
• Vietnamese nộm hoa chuối serves it raw and shredded in a sharp dressing.
• Sri Lankan kesel muwa mallum cooks it with coconut and curry leaves.

Frequently asked questions

What is Boshi Mashuni?

Boshi Mashuni is a salad & side from Maldives: shredded banana flower with coconut, chilli, onion and lime.

How long does Boshi Mashuni take to make?

Boshi Mashuni takes 40 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4 as a side. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Boshi Mashuni?

Yes, within limits. Tinned banana blossom replaces fresh and removes the entire preparation. Frozen grated coconut replaces fresh closely; unsweetened desiccated, rehydrated, is the fallback. Shredded green papaya or green mango can stand in for banana flower, though the texture differs. Tinned tuna replaces smoked Maldivian valhoamas, which is hard to find abroad. Leave out the fish entirely for a vegan version, which is also traditional. Vinegar replaces lime in the soaking water; use lime in the dressing itself.

What is the most important thing to get right in Boshi Mashuni?

Rub oil onto your hands before you start. Oil your knife and your board too. Cut banana flower oxidises within minutes. Add lime juice or vinegar and salt to plenty of water. Drop every piece into it as you cut. Do not let cut pieces sit in air at all. Peel off the outer purple bracts one at a time. Others keep them after removing two parts.