Types of street food in Maldives – The Sensational Street Food of the Maldives

In addition to being a common street snack, this is also a staple breakfast item in the Maldives, and is an essential when dining in Maldives since it is also served in luxury resorts such as Velassaru Maldives. These are made by filling balls of dough with a mixture known as mashuni, which contains tuna, onions, shredded coconut and an assortment of spices. Then the dough is roasted to form a bun that is stuffed with the iconic tuna filling. In addition to being an indulgent snack, it is also quite healthy.

Since Maldivian cuisine is heavily influenced by the cuisine of nearby countries such as Sri Lanka and India, you will find these snacks being identical to samosas. Bajiyaas consist are triangular deep fried pastry with a savoury filling. In most cases, the filling consists of tuna, squash, ginger, chilli and curry leaves that have been lightly stir-fried in vegetable oil. Once they have been incorporated into the pastries resulting in triangular shaped items, they are deep fried. Alternative fillings can even include minced beef or chicken.

Similar to Indian and Sri Lankan cutlets, these are delicious snacks that usually have a fish-based filling. Once again, mashuni is the star of the dish, and is incorporated into bite-sized balls of flour that are then deep-fried, which results in a snack that is similar to a cutlet as opposed to a bun. Although they are not breaded like traditional cutlets, they are still crispy and delicious. There are two common varieties which are made with wheat flour and rice flour respectively. The latter are known to be crunchier than the prior.

This is one of the more unique and fascinating options in Maldivian cuisine. It consists of a cake of sorts with rice and tuna as the primary ingredients. It consists of a homogenous mixture that is made initially by mixing onion, ginger, chilli, turmeric powder, curry leaves, eggs and salt and then incorporating ground rice and scraped coconut. The mixture is then arranged to square blocks and fried on a greased pan until golden and crisp. What results are cake-like savouries that are crisp on the outside and soft within.

This has been one of the most popular Maldivian foods for generations and is still considered a beloved dish all over the country. It consists of tuna that has been boiled in salted water while the foam is collected and discarded routinely. While this is the traditional manner, many places would further season the broth with additions such as lemon, chilli and onions. Garudiya can be eaten in a few ways. It can be consumed as a soup of sorts on its own, or even with roshi which is the traditional flatbread of the Maldives. Most commonly however it is enjoyed with steamed rice.