Valhomas hiki riha ( smoked tuna curry)

When working on my book, Chillies and Lime: recipes from a Maldivian kitchen, I read an article I found in one of the local books, Faiythoora. The articles ( Dhivehi Rahatha) give a little history of our food culture written by  Zulfa Ibrahim. It was an interesting article ( or series of articles) and for me, it was a treasury of discovery about  local food traditions.
One of the recipes that caught my eye was Valhomas hiki riha.  She says this curry was often served along with roshi for dinner or breaking of fast and also for breakfast on regular days.  I remembered seeing this recipe on Mohamed Amin's recipe book so gave it a try. The curry is very simple to make. No oil is added, no sauteing of onions. If you don't have smoked tuna use a can of tuna instead.

everything gets mixed in the pot before cooking

Yield: 4  Author: Nammi 

Valhomas Hikiriha

prep time: 10 min Cook time: 15 mins total time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 fillet smoked tuna ( Valhomas) , 2 if small, 9 see note)
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 to 1/2 scotch bonnet, cut into big pieces
• 1/2 tsp dried red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin ( dhiri)
• 2 tsp ground fennel ( dhavigandhu)
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• pinch of fenugreek, about 6 seeds ( oah bai)
• Juice of 1/2  lime
• 10 curry leaves
• 10 inch pandan leaf, cut into small pieces
• salt
• 1/4 cup packed or canned coconut milk 
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

1. Place onions, garlic curry leaves and fish into a suitable cooking pot.  Squeeze lime juice and add a 1/4 tsp salt and mix well with your fingers crumbling the fish roughly.  not fine though. 
2. Add the spices, scotch bonnet pepper, and pandan leaf. 
3. Stir in coconut milk and water. Mix with a spoon and then cover and place over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. Add a little more water if you want some gravy but this is a dry curry with a little gravy just enough to keep the fish moist.
5. Taste, adjust salt and switch off
6. Serve with Roshi and enjoy!

NOTES:

If you dont have smoked tuna, use about a can and half of  tuna , oil or brine drained off.

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