Maalhoskeylu Hiki Riha

View this Recipe in Dhivehi

It’s been a while since we last had some maalhos keyo (plantain). So we thought we’d get some and make this quick and easy, and quite delicious dry curry from it.

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

• 4 maalhos keyo
• ¼ cup dried tuna chips
• 1 onion
• 12 curry leaves
• 3 inch piece of raanbaa
• 2 tsp. tomato paste
• 2 tbsp whole coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp. whole fennel seeds
• ½ tbsp. whole cumin seeds
• ½ tbsp. black peppercorns
• 5 dried red chillies
• 1/3 tsp. ground turmeric
• ¼ cup thick coconut milk
• ¾ tsp. salt (or to taste)
• 1 ½ tsp. sugar
• 1 cup oil (for frying the maalhos keyo)
• 2 tbsp. oil (for the curry)
• ¼ cup water

Instructions:

1. Heat a pan and keep the heat on medium.
2. Add the black peppercorns and coriander.
3. When the coriander and peppercorns begin to sizzle and pop, add the fennel and dried red chilies and cook until everything begins to take on a brownish colour. You’ll need to redistribute the contents in the pan from time to time to allow even cooking.
4. Add the cumin and cook for around 15 more seconds.
5. Let the spices cool down a bit and then grind the toasted spices until they form a smooth powder.
6. Peel the maalhos keyo and slice them into a bowl of water. You can keep the slices at a thickness of one inch.
7. Let the maalhos keyo sit in the water for around 10 minutes. Then drain them. Also pat them dry with something as we are going to fry them next.
8. Pour the oil into a pot and heat it up. Once the oil is well heated, carefully add in the maalhos keyo slices and fry them until they are golden brown. When they are done you should also be able to smell a really nice maalhos keyo smell.
9. When the maalhos keyo gets fried remove them from the oil and drain them to remove the excess oil so that they remain nice and crispy.
10. Slice the onion.
11. Heat the oil in a pot and once the oil is heated, add the onions, curry leaves and raanbaa and cook until the onions begin to turn soft and brown.
12. Add in the ground spice mixture, turmeric, fried maalhos keyo, coconut milk, tomato paste, ¼ cup of water, sugar, salt and the dried tuna chips. Mix well, put the lid on, and on a low flame, let it cook for around 5 minutes. If you find the curry to be too dry, you can always add in some more water.