Mas Riha

Ingredients

Fish

• 800 gfresh tuna, in 3 cm cubes
• 1 tspsalt
• juice of 1 lime

Aromatics

• 3 tbspcoconut oil
• 2onions, finely sliced
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 1thumb ginger, grated
• 2 sprigscurry leaves
• 1pandan leaf, knotted
• 4island chillies or bird’s eye chillies, sliced

Spices

• 2 tspMaldivian curry powder, or mild curry powder
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1 tspturmeric
• 1/2 tspground fenugreek
• 1cinnamon stick
• 3cardamom pods, bruised

Liquid

• 600 mlthick coconut milk
• 200 mlwater
• 1 tbsptamarind paste, or the juice of 1 lime

To serve

• steamed rice
• roshi flatbread
• papadum

Directions

1. Cut it into cubes of about three centimetres. Cut them large, since tuna shrinks and dries very quickly. Toss the cubes with salt and lime juice and set them aside. Let them sit for fifteen minutes while you build the sauce.
2. Warm the coconut oil in a wide heavy pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt. Cook them slowly for twelve minutes until soft and golden. Do not rush this, since the onion is the body of the sauce.
3. Add the garlic, ginger and sliced chillies. Cook them for two minutes until fragrant. The curry leaves and pandan go in next and need hot oil. Add both sprigs of curry leaves and the knotted pandan leaf. Fry them for about thirty seconds. Leave the pandan leaf whole so it can be removed later.
4. Add the curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric and fenugreek. Add the cinnamon stick and bruised cardamom pods. Fry the ground spices for a full minute, stirring constantly. They should darken slightly and smell toasted rather than raw.
5. Add a splash of water if they start to catch on the pan. The coconut milk is added next and needs careful heat. Pour in the coconut milk and the water. Stir it to bring the spice paste into the liquid. Bring it to a bare simmer and never let it boil. Coconut milk splits into oil and curds if it boils hard. Simmer it gently for fifteen minutes so the sauce thickens.
6. Add the tamarind or lime juice and season it with salt. Do not stir the pan hard, since the fish breaks up easily. Spoon the sauce over the pieces instead. Simmer them for eight to ten minutes only. Tuna goes from tender to dry and chalky very fast.
7. Take the pan off the heat the moment it reaches that point. Remove the pandan leaf and the cinnamon stick. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and the sourness. It should be rich, faintly sour and clearly hot. Let it stand off the heat for five minutes before serving. Serve it hot with rice or with roshi flatbread.

Technique

• Cut the tuna large, since it shrinks and dries very quickly.
• Never let the coconut milk boil, as it splits into oil and curds.
• Take the pan off the heat as soon as the fish turns opaque, since tuna dries fast.

Substitutions

• Any firm oily fish in place of tuna, though tuna is the Maldivian choice.
• Bird’s eye chillies in place of island chillies.

Variations

• Made with smoked and dried tuna, which is the everyday version.
• With drumstick or aubergine added to the sauce.
• Made hotter, with far more chilli.

History

Tuna curry with curry leaf, pandan and island chilli, showing the Sri Lankan and South Indian influence on Maldivian cooking.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mas Riha?

Mas Riha is a main from Maldives: maldivian tuna curry with curry leaves and coconut milk. Tuna curry with curry leaf, pandan and island chilli, showing the Sri Lankan and South Indian influence on Maldivian cooking.

How long does Mas Riha take to make?

Mas Riha takes 25 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mas Riha?

Yes, within limits. Any firm oily fish in place of tuna, though tuna is the Maldivian choice. Bird’s eye chillies in place of island chillies.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mas Riha?

Warm the coconut oil in a wide heavy pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt. Cook them slowly for twelve minutes until soft and golden. Do not rush this, since the onion is the body of the sauce.