Rihaakuru (ރިހާކުރު, pronounced ) is a fish-based thick sauce. The color varies from light brown to dark brown. It is a traditional dish of Maldivian cuisine, consumed almost daily in every household in

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

and in

Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian union territory of ...

since ancient times. Rihaakuru is produced as a by-product of the processing of

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

History

Maldivian travellers introduced Rihaakuru and Bondi to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). Sri Lankans considered these as delicacies and referred to them as Bondi Haluwa and Diya Hakuru (rhyming derivative, of the original

Dhivehi Dhivehi, also spelled Divehi, may refer to: *Dhivehi people, an ethnic group native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands. *Dhivehi language, an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Republic of Maldives ...

term, which means 'liquid

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can ...

' in the

Sinhalese language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also sp ...

) respectively. These terms were popular in Sri Lankan households until the latter part of the 20th century, when they gradually disappeared.

Preparation

Rihaakuru is obtained through following a simple but time-consuming procedure. The extract is the result of hours of cooking of tuna in water and salt, while carefully removing the scum (filleyo) that keeps forming. Once the tuna pieces are cooked and ready to eat or store, they will be removed from the water, as well as the bones, heads and fish guts. The pieces of Tuna, so cooked, get eventually processed into Maldive fish. The remaining "fish-soup" (

Garudhiya Garudiya or ''Garudhiya'' (ގަރުދިޔަ) is a clear fish broth. It is one of the basic and traditional food items of Maldivian cuisine. The broth is based on tuna species found in the nation's ocean waters such as skipjack ''(kanḍumas o ...

) is left with ''Bondi'' (balls of tuna scraps scraped off the bones), and is kept boiling in low fire until most water evaporates. The resulting concentrated fish soup becomes a thick paste which is known in

as Rihaakuru. Rihaakuru is eaten pure in the

along with

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

roti Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinid ...

or breadfruit. It is also cooked with fried onions, curry-leaves (hikandifaiy) and chilies in order to obtain a delicious variant called ''theluli rihaakuru'' (spiced rihaakuru). In Maldivian cuisine it is also mixed with coconut milk, to obtain a dish called ''rihaakuru diya''. In some countries people use Rihaakuru as a sandwich spread, likening its use to other by-product spreads such as

Vegemite Vegemite ( ) is a thick, dark brown Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. It was developed by Cyril Callister in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1922. A spread for sandwiches, t ...

, Bovril and Marmite . A noticeable consumption of Rihaakuru has been recorded in China, namely in Chinese dishes like Cha Kuay Teow Mee,

Fried Vegetables Fried may refer to: Music * ''Fried'' (album), a 1984 album by Julian Cope * Fried (band), a band made up of U.S. soul singer Jonte Short and ex-The Beat and Fine Young Cannibals guitarist David Steele *"Fried", a song by E-40 from his 2011 album ...

( Kai Lan,

Chye Sim Cài () is a Chinese-language surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. In 2019 it was the 38th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan (as of 2018), where it is usually romanized as "Tsai" (based on ...

and

Pak choy Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English) or pok choi (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') is a type of Chinese cabbage, used as food. ''Chinensis'' varieties do not form heads and have ...

) and

Hue Muay In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that ...

. Rihaakuru is slightly acidic (pH 5.6-6.2) and is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as omega-3 and protein. The

histamine Histamine is an organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses, as well as regulating physiological functions in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the brain, spinal cord, and uterus. Since histamine was discovered in ...

concentration of Rihaakuru has been described as being at levels that are regarded as a risk to human health, however Maldivians are mostly immune to any poisoning that may result from this.

References

{{reflist

External links

MIFCO Rihaakuru
Maldivian cuisine Tuna dishes Ancient dishes

History

Preparation

See also

References

External links