Sunday, 8 November 2026 · 28 Jumada I 1448 AH

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Maldivian Food

Fresh fish rice

Brown rice cooked with boneless reef fish, pandan leaf, cinnamon and cardamom.

A plate of rice cooked with fresh fish.
A plate of rice cooked with fresh fish. Photo: Peachyeung316 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A simple one-pot rice of brown rice and fresh reef fish, gently scented with pandan leaf, cinnamon and cardamom. It makes a warm, filling meal.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups brown rice

  • 300 g reef fish, boneless, cut small

  • 2 curry leaves

  • 5 pieces of pandan leaf, broken into 1/2-inch pieces

  • 2 pieces of cinnamon, 1/2 inch each

  • 4 cardamom pods, broken in two

  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1 githeyo chilli, chopped

  • 2 green chillies, sliced

  • 1 onion, chopped

  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  • A 1/2-inch piece of ginger, grated

  • A little salt

Method

  1. Wash the brown rice. Add water to about 1 inch above the rice and start cooking.

  2. Add the black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and pandan leaf.

  3. When the rice is about half cooked, add all the remaining ingredients.

  4. Cook on low heat until the moisture has dried off.