Maldivian Cuisine /Cuisine des Maldives /Кухня Мальдивских островов

English Version

Maldivian Cuisine

Here are some pictures of Maldivian food we eat while we were on vacation in the Maldives this September.

Maldivian cuisine is highly influenced by India and Sri Lanka. It is spicy but it is milder in comparison with other Asian cuisines. Chili omelet was one of my favorite.

It mainly consists of a wide variety of seafood. Fish curry is one of the main courses. Tuna is served all the time. Several varieties of rice are available: vegetable rice, steamed rice, buttered rice, risotto, spicy rice etc.
Chicken, vegetable and fish curries were main meals.
Fried vegetables were served quite often.
For dessert, we always had different fruit mousses. I loved them quite a lot as they were light and fluffy.
Custard was always there. It was delicious: tender, tasty and smooth.
Fruits were available all the time: watermelon, papayas etc.
I also liked one of their traditional dish: crispy fried chips. But I do not remember its name. These were chips made of flour and fried in hot oil.

French version

Cuisine des Maldives

Voice quelques photos des plats Maldiviens que nous avons goutés aux Maldives.

La majorité des plats aux Maldives, sont composés de riz et de poisson. Le poisson est consommé à chaque repas, notamment le thon.
Volailles et viandes rouges ont été également proposées à chaque repas. En général c’était le curry de poisson, de poulet ou de légumes.
La cuisine est épicée mais pas très forte. J’ai beaucoup aimé l’omelette au piment.
Le ris a été préparé de différentes façons : ris beurré, ris à la vapeur, ris aux légumes, risotto.
Les pates et les nouilles ont été toujours proposées.
Pour le dessert, j’ai beaucoup aimé la mousse aux fruits : elle était airée, fraiche et légère.
La crème anglaise, délicieuse et épaisse, a été toujours proposée pour le dessert.
Les chips fines et croustillantes, frites dans l’huile, ont été toujours proposés parmi plusieurs garnitures.
On a eu toujours un bon choix de fruits frais.

Russian Version

Кухня Мальдивских островов

Вот несколько фотографий блюд, которые мы попробовали на Мальдивских островах.
Кухня Мальдивов в основном состоит из рыбы и риса. Тунец и рис готовятся разнообразными способами. Чаще всего рыба, мясо и овощи приготавливаются в соусе кари : смесь специй. Оснвной компонент кари – кокосовое молочко, перец, и лайм.
Если же вы не любитель индийской кухни, то вы всегда сможите выбрать одно из блюд европейской кухни :лапша, макароны,овощи, курица.
Хрустящие чипсы, приготовленные из муки и воды, обжаренные в горячем масле, всегда были предложены на рыду с другими закусками.
Фруктовый мусс и заварной крем были неотъемлимыми сладкими блюдами.

NIGELLA’S CHOCOLATE CHERRY CUPCAKES

Nigella's chocolate cherry cupcakes

Here is another recipe of Nigella which I discovered thanks to Mr.C who proposed to make this recipe for “Nigella Cookalong September”.

These cupcakes are moist, tender and tasty: they melt in the mouth.

What surprised me is that the cupcakes smelled chocolate but when you eat them, they have a cherry taste. It was quiet unusual as they really smelled chocolate but in the mouth it was definitely a taste of cherry.

I didn’t make an icing as I always prefer cupcakes and muffins without any icing. Without icing they can be easily stored in a fridge for 1 week. But if you prefer them with icing, give them a try !

My batter made 12 muffins.
I’ll certainly keep this recipe in my “everyday” or “weekend’ recipes as this recipe was easy to make and the result was really good.

FOR THE CUPCAKES:
125g soft unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
300g morello cherry jam
150g caster sugar (I used only half of it)
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, beaten
150g self-raising flour
12-bun muffin tin and papers
FOR THE ICING:
100g dark chocolate
100ml double cream
12 natural-coloured glacé cherries

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.
2. Put the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan on the heat to melt. When nearly completely melted, stir in the chocolate. Leave for a moment to begin softening, then take the pan off the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and chocolate are smooth and melted. Now add the cherry jam, sugar, salt and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon and when all is pretty well amalgamated stir in the flour.
3. Scrape and pour into the muffin papers in their tin and bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out.
4. When the cupcakes are cool, break the chocolate for the icing into little pieces and add them to the cream in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and then whisk – by hand or electrically – till thick and smooth. Ice the cupcakes, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon, and stand a cherry in the centre of each.