Stir fried Snakegourd (chichanda )

Snake gourd or chichanda is a locally grown vegetable.  During this pandemic I decided to try working with more local vegetables and also ones that are readily available in the market. Its good to hear some of the islands are initiating growing more vegetables. Apparently the leaves and shoots are also edible , according to Britannica.

Black pepper chicken liver curry

 

I love chicken livers. I think its more of you like them or you hate them sort of food. I tend to be the ones who like it, not love chicken livers. It was until recently I realized I have been cooking the livers wrong until I saw one of my friends making this on her Instagram. She told me not to add water as a lot of water is released from the livers while it cooks.

Maalhoskeylu hithi ( plaintain curry)

Plantains are easily available in Maldives. There are various dishes where plaintains are used and one of them is this, known as hithi. Hithi  is a type of curry that is made using a spice called ajwain, some local chefs replace it with cumin but I prefer to use ajwain. 

Majaa

      Majaa literally means something like having fun or enjoying yourself.  This dish is eaten as a snack, and one that needs to be shared with a few friends who enjoy spicy food. Usually, majaa is made when going to the beach, or weekends or even when you just want to have some fun with friends. It is a salad of sorts but spicy enough to have you sweating and blowing your nose.

Breadfruit Croquettes

 

It's breadfruit season, which means they are cheaper and also lots of local breadfruit dishes being prepared in most homes.  Since I have touched quite a lot of local recipes I wanted to try and make something different. So I googled breadfruit and saw that it is very popular in the Caribbean. I came across this recipe by Chef Mirelle in  a website, where the breadfruit is turned into small balls and enjoyed as a snack. 

Banbukeyo Kaneydhelonumas ( yellow breadfruit curry)

 I have shared so many recipes of breadfruit, that I am scratching my head wondering what else is left for me to try. One recipe that I have missed is this one, Kaneydhelonumas. quite a mouthful, I know but let's call it yellow breadfruit curry. Similar to Kirugarudhiya but for some reason the name changes when it came to the breadfruit version. 

Rihaakuru pasta

First of all, My heart is heavy about the school shooting that happened in Texas. I know there are so many kids already dying in War-torn Syria, and Afganistan and even Ukraine. But no child should die, regardless of their race, gender or religion. It's a child for crying out loud, what is his or her crime? 

Chicken Enchiladas

Enchiladas is a Mexican dish where tortillas are filled with a meat or vegetarian filling along with cheese and then arranged in a baking dish over a sauce and then drizzled with more sauce and lots of cheese. A lot like the Lasagne. 

One pot Chicken Pilaf

 

 Eid means Biryani. While biryani was rarely made during the earlier days, now a lot of homes make Biryani. While I love Biryani I hate the clean-up that follows. So I tried to come up with something that uses minimal pots and pans so you don't have a pile of washing up after you finish. 

Sevoonaru (vermicilli pudding)

My little one loves to try recipes that he discovers in his storybooks. He loves The Planet Omar series by Zanib Mian.  He discovered Seviyan a vermicelli pudding that is a Pakistani and also an Indian dessert.  Even in a Maldivian recipe book, I found a similar recipe called Sevoonaru.  

Huni Hakuru ( Sweet Coconut Pastries)

Reposting this recipe because I found out the fried version of this recipe is called another name so I  made these again and baked them, because it is either baked or steamed and not fried. Will be posting about the fried ones once I find out the story behind it.

Huni Hakuru is this sweet pastry which is eaten as a tea time snack. The filling is made of gabulhi huni ( the meat found inside a slightly young coconut, but not as young as the ones you drink) cooked with sugar , pandan and cardamon. Once its well cooked and sticky , its cooled and placed in a dough and shaped like a curry puff. Traditionally it is either steamed or baked. I am not a fan of the steamed version so I baked it.