Fufoo Kan'dhi

Some of you guys had asked us whether we could do a Kan'dhi recipe and here we have one finally.

We can of course make Kan'dhi with a variety of vegetables but we thought we’d make this one with Fufoo (wax gourd), and before we get to the recipe, there are a couple of things we probably should talk about.

First of all, for all non-locals reading this, Kan'dhi is a really delicious porridge like dessert drink and you should definitely give it a go. Second, we took a whole lot of time deciding whether to use rice flour, corn flour or soaked and ground rice. This was because while some recipes we found online asked for corn flour, in Mohamed Amin’s cookbook Karuna Aai Nulaa Kekkun he instructs the use of rice flour while Zareena Didi in her cookbook Dhivehi Kaanaa soaks and grinds the rice for her Fufoo Kan'dhi. In the end we went with rice flour, as it appeared to be a good fuss free option.

And lastly, our Kan'dhi could really have used some Maafen (jasmine water) but we couldn’t get our hands on any so we used a bit of rosewater instead. But if you are lucky enough to have some Maafen, be sure to use that.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Fufoo cut into small cubes
• 3 ¼  cups water
• 3 tbsp. rice four
• ½ cup sugar (or to taste)
• 6 inch piece raanbaa (pandan leaf)
• ½ cup thick coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. rosewater

Instructions:

1. Cut the Fufoo open, remove the core along with the seeds, peel it, and cut the flesh into small cubes. A little over a centimetre in width would do.
2. In a pot, bring 1& ½ cups of water to a boil.
3. Once the water begins to boil, add the cubed Fufoo and cook until it is tender and cooked through. When the Fufoo is cooked it’ll look a bit transparent.
4. Remove the pot from the stove, drain to discard the cooking water, and set aside the Fufoo.
5. Then to the same pot, add 1 & ½ cups water, sugar and raanbaa leaf and cook the mixture until it boils. If you are using Maafen, Zareena Didi in her recipe adds it in this step, so perhaps you could add yours now too.
6. While you wait for the mixture to boil, add ¼ cup water to the rice flour, mix it together and set it aside.
7. When the mixture begins to boil, add the rice flour, which by now should resemble a paste, along with fufoo you cooked before.
8. Now you’ll have to cook the mixture until the rice flour is cooked and the mixture has thickened. You’ll have to continuously keep stirring too to make sure the texture is nice and there are no lumps. For us this took around 15 minutes, but timings may differ depending on the quantities being made. We kept the heat on medium throughout the cooking process.
9. Once the mixture has thickened and the rice flour is cooked, add the thick coconut milk and mix it well.
10.  Finally switch off the stove and stir in the rosewater. Remember to eat it while it’s still hot.