Homemade Sri Lankan Fish Buns (Maalu Banis/Maalu Paan)

This delicious homemade stuffed bread is called the Sri Lankan Fish Bun. It’s one of the favourites in the family, also known as Maalu Banis or Maalu Paan from where I came from.

It’s a perfect meal replacement for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It can also be used as a quick snack as well, best for on the go, and easy and a mess-free meal to enjoy.

Sri Lankan Maalu Banis are always made with fish sambal. Which is why we call it a fish bun. However, you can easily replace the stuffings from fish to just about anything you like. The fillings can be either beef, chicken, egg sambal, seeni sambal, or simply just ground beef with cheese fillings. I’ve made vegetarian fillings too on occasions.

How It’s Made

Take out your kitchen-aid mixer and add the flour, sugar, instant yeast, butter, and salt. Give it a good mix first or knead with your hands. As it’s mixing the ingredients, pour in little water at a time until the dough forms into a smooth ball.

Touch the dough to see if it’s done. If it is too sticky to touch sprinkle some flour as you mix or if the dough turns out too dry and not holding the flour together, add small amounts of water to form a well-mixed smooth dough.

When done, cover the dough lightly with a cloth or cover the bowl with cling wrapping. Set aside for at least 30 minutes or more for it to let the yeast work it’s magic to get the dough double in size.

I usually use this wait time to prepare the fillings (Fish filling recipe is down below). Whether you chose to make sweet or savoury, this is the time to make that happen. By the time you’re done with the filling, your dough will be ready too for the next step.

How I made the fish filling

Start by adding the oil, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds and the sliced onions on a nonstick pan or pot. Cook it on low-medium heat with the lid on until the onions start to turn soft.

Then throw in the sliced green leaks, diced tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Give it a good mix and let it cook further for about 2 more minutes or until the tomatoes are softened.

Then lastly add the tuna and the boiled potatoes. Mix well with the rest of the ingredients but careful not to mash them too much. The fish and the potatoes should be broken into pieces rather than mashed. It’s alright if few get mashed in the process, it will help hold the fillings together but try to keep them from getting too mushed. It is better if the stuffing is in chunky pieces.

So once you mix the fish and potatoes with the rest of the ingredients, taste to see if your spices and salt is enough. If needed add more salt and for more spice, you may add chilli powder, black pepper powder, or chilli flakes. Give it a good mix and it is ready for the next step.

Let’s move on to shaping

Now that we have both the dough already risen and the fillings ready we can do the fun step: shaping. When I have different fillings I end up making different shapes to tell them apart. Sometimes I do one shape but different sizes so I can keep one batch for another day.

The most popular and the original shape of a Srilankan Maalu Banis is a triangle. There is an easy step to create this shape so don’t worry I’ll walk you through it.

Take a golf ball size portion of the dough, roll it flat into a circle. Place enough stuffing in the middle. We are gonna fold 3 sides together. Start by bringing the top two sides of the dough over the stuffing. Pinch the 2 sides that meet together, seal it only up to halfway. Then fold the bottom side of the dough over the stuffing to connect it to the 2 sides you already did… Now pinch all 3 sides well where they meet and it’ll look more like a triangle. Turn it over and shape the sides with your hands to form an even looking smooth triangle.

Besides the original triangle shape all Maalu Banis hold, you can also be creative and make the dough to look like a circle, rectangles, or even squares, if that sounds boring try braiding them straight, making it into a flower or create just about any shapes or forms you like. Click to learn step by step instructions on creating many more shapes besides the triangle.

Time to Bake

Line all the Maalu Banis (the folded side facing down) on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Leave some space around each piece for it to expand. Once done lining them all neatly, cover it loosely with a towel/cloth and let it sit for about 15-20 min more.

I recommend that you let it sit for at least 10 minutes after you have them all shaped. You can skip this small step and bake at once but by doing this extra step your dough would expand into a well-rounded triangle shape, giving it a nice smooth finishing look.

Have a beaten egg ready to brush it off on top of the Maalu  Banis just before baking. Bake at 320 Fahrenheit (160 Celsius) for 20-30 minutes or until it turns into a golden yellow on the top.

When the baking is done…

The smell of the freshly baked bread flows through the house like wildfire. Usually, I have a difficult time controlling my craving to steal one. I know it is too HOT to touch but my desire to taste the Maalu Banis takes over.

I’d prepare myself in a hurry and bite into the fluffy bread that came just off the oven. Then end up struggling to taste, bite and swallow fast at the same time not to burn my tongue in the process. So I would highly recommend that you wait until it cools down a little but if you’re anything like me forget the wait just go ahead and dig in. Just be careful not to burn your tongue.

The smell of the freshly baked bread will roam around the house calling everyone to take a bite while it’s still hot.  So delicious that we barely leave any for later.

Anyways give this a go, you won’t regret it. It seems like a lot of work but the result is just simply mouth-watering. I usually make a big batch of these Sri Lankan Maalu Banis for dinner and keep some stored for a quick on the go for breakfast. Make smaller in size for parties, gatherings, or snacks to have through on a lazy day. It is best served with ketchup or hot sauce of your choice. Enjoy!

---

For more Srilankan recipes like this one, take a look at our category HERE. Choose from varieties of delicious recipes made from scratch.

If you’re enjoying my recipes, please subscribe to Berrychik’s weekly newsletters. New, as well as posts related, will be sent right to your inbox for FREE.

Subscribe Now!

You may also follow me @iberrychik on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Have you tried any of my recipes before? If so I’d love to see how it came out for you. Take a picture, post it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest. Use #berrychik and also tag me @iberrychik on your social media and I’d love to check it out.