Maldives is a popular tourist destination for many Indians and beyond the Instagrammable pictures of its crystal clear aquamarine waters, its food, especially the special sweets, often don’t get the spotlight they deserve. The tropical holiday destination is known for its local jasmine flowers, bananas and tapioca that is grown locally along with influences from the crowd that is drawn to the archipelago, which has shaped the local Dhivehi cuisine over the years.
It is a sticky pudding that is usually made with rice but can also be made with sago, breadfruit or barley and based on the base ingredient, the name of the dessert changes. It’s made with coconut, condensed milk and sugar that makes it thick and sticky and typically uses cardamom and cinnamon for the flavour and sometimes Pandan leaves. This sweet dish is traditionally prepared for Eid and other special occasions. The one prepared on Eid is called the Handulu Bondibai, which is made with rice cooked in milk, and flavoured with rose or jasmine-infused water. There are two more kinds of Bondibai – Banbukeyo Bondibai and Saagu Bondibai. The former is made with the local breadfruit, a staple fruit in the Maldives, instead of rice. As for the Saagu Bondibai, it uses tapioca, turned into tiny balls, instead of rice and after the sago is cooked, it is combined with sugar, spices and coconut milk and cooked to thicken. The locals love their Bondibai with spicy fish.
If you're familiar with Murabba that is how Boakuri Falho might feel in terms of its stickiness because it’s made using almost ripe papayas. Sugar is boiled in water first and once it dissolves, the papaya is added and slow-cooked until the water reduces and what is left behind is a sticky and gooey semi-solid. It's eaten right away like a chutney minus the spices and added flavourings.
Hailing from the Southern part of Maldives, this dessert looks like a sweet candy roll made from coconut, jaggery, and coconut syrup that is cooked and wrapped in rolled dried banana leaves. Depending on what kind you might be served, it looks like a joint or a cigar; you will need to peel the outer layer to get to the sweet inside. It's a popular appetizer in the archipelago that can be cut down into bite-sized pieces. Since Maldives is often a destination for couples on their honeymoon, it's made aromatic with a local jasmine extract that grows in Maldives called huvandhumaa.
Made with condensed milk, ghee and eggs, this custard dessert is sliced and eaten. It's sweet and creamy and needs the cook to whisk it well to achieve the texture. It is refrigerated once the whisking is done for the custard to set.
These are banana balls or fritters that are made with mashed bananas and sugar, vanilla essence and desiccated coconut, that are shaped into balls and fried, because of which the exterior is brown and crispy while the inside remains soft with sweetness in each bite.
A kind of fluffy cake, this is another of the nibbles that is popular on the island and is enjoyed with a beverage on the side or as a plain snack. It comes in both savoury and sweet versions with the sweet ones ranging from being made with ghee, rice, cassava, coconut, and bread. Paan Boakiba is sweet and is made using bread, condensed milk, vanilla essence, eggs and water, made during Ramadan. There’s also Dhandi Aluvi Boakiba and Gabulhi Boakiba, the former using ingredients like cassava and tender coconut flesh, which needs high cooking skill and precision, while the latter is made with grated coconut meat, flour, sugar and rose water, turned into a cake and baked in the oven.
A comforting dessert Saagu Kandhi is a thin porridge that is made specially for Eid and on rainy days in Maldives. It uses sago that is booked in rice flour, coconut milk, pandan leaves, sugar and cardamom. It used the local speciality – jasmine-infused water to flavour this dessert. The locals also use sweet potatoes or wax gourd instead of the sago with the rice, in this dish. They go by different names based on the vegetables used.