Malu Paan

Ingredients

Dough

• 600 gplain flour
• 50 gsugar
• 7 gdried yeast
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 300 mlwarm milk
• 1egg
• 60 gbutter, softened

Fish filling

• 400 gcooked fish
• tinned mackerel or tuna
• or cooked fresh fish
• 300 gpotatoes, boiled and mashed
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3cm ginger, grated
• 2green chillies, chopped
• 10curry leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoonground turmeric
• 2 teaspoonschilli powder
• 1 teaspoonroasted curry powder
• juice of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• salt and black pepper

To finish

• 1beaten egg, to glaze
• or a little milk

To serve

• warm
• plain tea
• from a bread van

Directions

1. Cook the mixture until it is genuinely dry. It also binds it into a firm mass. Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain them and mash them roughly. Let them cool down a little first.
2. Mash them roughly rather than smoothly. A smooth puree makes it pasty. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the chopped onions to the pan. Cook them for a good eight minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook them for two more full minutes.
3. Add the chopped curry leaves to it. Add the turmeric and chilli powder. Add the roasted curry powder to it. Fry them for about thirty seconds. Thirty seconds in hot oil is the limit.
4. Flake all the fish into the pan. Check it very carefully for bones. Stir it through the spiced base. Let it cook for about five minutes. Add the mashed potato to the pan. Work it through the fish mixture. Season it with salt and black pepper. Squeeze in all of the lime juice. Keep cooking over a medium heat.
5. Stir it constantly as it dries. Give it about eight more minutes. Taste it and adjust the seasoning. It should taste strongly spiced. Season it more than feels right. Spread the filling on a wide plate. Let it cool right down completely. Then refrigerate it until firm.
6. Warm filling melts the dough as you fill. Cold firm filling handles far more easily. Warm the milk to blood temperature. Stir the yeast and a spoon of sugar in. Let it stand until it foams up. Give it about ten minutes to foam. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the middle of it.
7. Beat the egg and add it in as well. Pour in the foaming yeast milk. Bring it together into a soft dough. Adding the butter is done separately. Knead the dough for about five minutes first. Add it in small pieces at a time.
8. Butter added at the start slows gluten forming. Keep working and it comes back together. Kneading it takes real patience. Knead it for a further eight minutes. It should become smooth and elastic. Put the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm. Let it roughly double in size. Give it an hour and a half there.
9. Divide it into even sized pieces. Roll each one into a smooth ball. Let them rest for ten minutes. Press each ball out into a disc. Keep the middle thicker than the edge. Even thickness gives a thick lumpy top.
10. Put a ball of cold filling in the centre. Do not overfill any one of them. Pinch the top firmly to seal it. Pinch it firmly and check each one. Turn each sealed bun seam side down. Set it on a lined baking tray. Cover them loosely with a cloth.
11. Let them prove for about forty minutes. They should look visibly puffed. Brush them all over with beaten egg. Heat the oven to one hundred and ninety degrees.
12. Bake them for about twenty minutes. Judging them takes a careful look. Cover them with a cloth as they cool. That keeps them soft rather than crusty. Set them out in a basket or on a plate. Serve plain tea alongside them. They keep two days in a sealed bag. Warm them briefly to soften them again.

Technique

• Three-wheeler bread vans drive through Sri Lankan neighbourhoods playing a loud tinny electronic version of Für Elise; the tune is instantly recognisable across the country, people come out when they hear it, and it is one of the sounds of the place.
• The filling must be cooked genuinely dry and then chilled firm, since wet filling makes the dough soggy and can burst the bun, and warm filling melts the dough as you work; the potato both bulks out the fish and absorbs moisture from it.
• Set the sealed buns seam side down on the tray, since the weight of the bun holds the seam shut where seam up lets it open as it rises.

Substitutions

• Tinned mackerel or tuna is commonly used and works as well as fresh cooked fish.
• Fresh curry leaves are far better than dried, which lose most of the aroma.

Variations

• Sri Lankan roasted curry powder is dark and quite different from unroasted blends.
• Malu paan sits among the short eats sold by Sri Lankan bakeries.
• The chilli level varies considerably between bakeries.

History

A Sri Lankan short eat carried by three-wheeler bread vans that announce themselves with a tinny Fur Elise.

Frequently asked questions

What is Malu Paan?

Malu Paan is a street food from Sri Lanka: soft bun stuffed with spiced fish and potato, sold from tuk-tuk bakeries. A Sri Lankan short eat carried by three-wheeler bread vans that announce themselves with a tinny Fur Elise.

How long does Malu Paan take to make?

Malu Paan takes 45 minutes plus rising of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 12 buns. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Malu Paan?

Yes, within limits. Tinned mackerel or tuna is commonly used and works as well as fresh cooked fish. Fresh curry leaves are far better than dried, which lose most of the aroma.

What is the most important thing to get right in Malu Paan?

Mash them roughly rather than smoothly. A smooth puree makes it pasty. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the chopped onions to the pan. Cook them for a good eight minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook them for two more full minutes.