Garudhiya

Garudhiya (Maldivian Tuna Broth)

Garudhiya is the everyday fish broth of the Maldives: fresh tuna gently simmered in lightly salted water with curry leaves and whole chilli, served over rice with lime, raw onion and extra chilli to taste at the table. It looks humble but tastes clean, briny and comforting.

Prep

15 min

Cook

40 min

Total

55 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •900 g (2 lb) fresh skipjack or yellowfin tuna, ask for head, bones and a thick steak/tray piece for the broth; skin on
• •2.0 L (8½ cups (2 qt)) cold water
• •15 g (½ cup, loosely packed) fresh curry leaves, do not substitute dried if you can help it
• •2 whole dried red chillies, Maldives-style 'ritha' if available, else any mild whole dried chilli
• •10 g (2 tsp) fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• •500 g (1 lb 2 oz (about 3 cups)) steamed short-grain or basmati rice, roshi or normal steamed rice; cooked separately
• •1 whole red onion, very finely sliced, for the table
• •1 whole lime, cut into wedges, for the table
• •1 whole fresh green or red chilli, thinly sliced, for the table

Steps

1. 1 Rinse the tuna head, bones and steak under cold water and put them in a wide pot. Add the 2 L cold water, curry leaves, whole dried chillies and 10 g salt. Bring slowly to a gentle simmer over medium heat, skimming off any foam that rises.
2. 2 Adjust the heat so the broth barely trembles; do not boil hard, or the broth turns cloudy and the flesh turns woolly. Simmer uncovered for 25–30 minutes, until the fish steak is just cooked through (internal temperature 60 °C / 140 °F at the thickest part) and pulls easily from the bone.
3. 3 Lift the solid tuna pieces out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot and discard the bones, skin and any spent curry leaves you do not want to serve.
4. 4 When the cooked tuna is cool enough to handle, flake it, picking out and discarding any small bones and the dark bloodline. Keep the flakes moist with a little of the strained broth so they do not dry out.
5. 5 Taste the broth and adjust the salt; Maldivian garudhiya is only lightly seasoned, so it should taste of sea, not of salt. Keep the broth at a very gentle heat so it stays hot for serving.
6. 6 To eat the Maldivian way: ladle a generous cup of hot broth over a bowl of steamed rice, top with a mound of flaked tuna, and pass the sliced onion, lime wedges and sliced fresh chilli at the table for each person to add to taste. Squeeze in lime first, then drop in onion and chilli a little at a time.