Maldive fish sambal – My people call it the maasi sambal. Maasi means Maldives fish in Tamil, or it is also called Umbalakada in Sinhalese.
Traditionally produced in the Maldives and is a staple in most of there cuisines. This dried tuna is gutted and boneless, very solid almost like a stone but taste so much like dried or deep fried beef. We Srilankans love these smoked, sundried tuna in our cooking. We only use them in small portions to various cuisines, if it is not available it can be skipped, however, this recipe the fish is the main ingredient and so we will be using it in cups instead of tablespoons.
Typically…
maasi sambal is made during special occasions when a lot of families and friends gather for the day. Srilankan Muslims love this maasi sambals with a killer buriyani to go with. I remember mostly at weddings I have eaten many times. I fell in love with the flavor, the texture, and the ingredients are pretty simple too. This sambal was one of the reasons I even began loving buriyani. The crunchy, salty, flavourful dried fish is quite tasty and gets a bit addictive.
Like I said Maldive fish is the main ingredient in this dish. This fish can be bought just about anywhere in Srilanka, Maldive, and in India. They come in big pieces or already crushed to small pieces. However in Canada, it can be bought only at some Asian stores, most Tamil stores will also carry them in jars crushed to small pieces.
This sambal is pretty easy to make.
All you need is 3 main ingredients (Onion, Curry leaves, Maldive fish) and of course salt and lime to taste and some oil to fry. All you gotta do is to fry them three ingredients separately using a non-stick saucepan with a few tablespoons of oil. You don’t need to deep fry them it should come well with just that little oil. The dried fish and the curry leaves take only a few minutes to cook but the onions take much longer. So use smaller portions of onions to get it fried. Don’t over fry them because the sambal will end up tasting bad at the end.
Once fried use a kitchen paper towel to drain the excess oil and keep it aside until you have the rest done as well. Use a bowl to mix all three ingredients along with the salt and lime to taste. I like to add a little spice. I use both chili powder and chili flakes for the texture and to add more flavor. Mix it all with your hand, make sure you crush the curry leaves well with the rest of the ingredients so the lime, salt, and the spices will infuse into the dried fish.
Maldive Fish Sambal (Maasi/Umbalakada)
The perfect side for your buriyani. Curry leaves, onions, and spices are mixed to infuse a zesty flavor into this smoked sundried tuna fish.
Ingredients
- 2 cup Curry leaves
- 1 cup Maldives fish
- 2 cup Onion sliced
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Chili powder
- 1 tsp Chili flakes
- Lime
Instructions
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Fry the curry leaves, onions, and Maldive fish separately.
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Drain all the excess oil with a paper towel.
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Mix them all together and add the rest of the ingredients.
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Mix it with your hands to crush them all well.
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Add more salt, lime, and spices to your taste.
What can this sambal go well with…
– Buriyani
– Fried rice
– Ghee rice
– Rice and curries
You don’t really need to stick with this options you can pair this sambal with just about anything you want to. I like having these in my toasts, and also with my roti and curry. I usually keep some for the string-hoppers or the milk rice (Kiribati). So as you can see even though this side is mostly meant for rice it is up to you what you want to pair this with.
