Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
Living in the Maldives means entering a world where the sea decides almost everything, including what’s on your plate. For an expatriate, understanding the local cuisine is not just about discovering new flavors; it’s also about learning the codes of an island Muslim society, structured by fishing, Islam, and the coconut palm. This guide offers an immersion into this cuisine of the ocean and the palm tree, with practical markers for eating like a local, even when living there long-term.
Understanding the Cultural and Religious Context of the Table
The first key to approaching the local cuisine is to keep in mind that the Maldives is a predominantly Muslim country where Islam is the state religion. Food laws therefore follow halal: no pork or pork derivatives, a ban on importing pork or alcohol, which are seized at the airport. Alcohol is only legally consumed in authorized tourist establishments, mainly resorts and some liveaboards. On inhabited islands, local cafés and restaurants are strictly alcohol-free.
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. As an expatriate, it is expected that you avoid eating, drinking, or smoking conspicuously in public during the day out of respect. This period is also an opportunity to discover Iftar (fast-breaking) buffets, very sweet traditional desserts, and culinary specialties often prepared only at this time.
Another important guideline: table manners. Traditionally, one eats with the right hand, the left being considered impure. In a home, you will be offered a basin of water to rinse your fingers before and after the meal, and it is common to eat sitting on the floor around shared dishes. Refusing a dish or tasting almost nothing can be interpreted as an offense. Conversely, finishing your entire plate might suggest your host did not serve you enough. The ideal, for an expatriate, is to serve yourself a little of everything, compliment the cook, and stop before scraping the plate clean.
In cafés and restaurants, especially in urban areas or on tourist islands, it is perfectly acceptable to ask for cutlery if you are not yet comfortable with the custom of eating with your fingers. Furthermore, an important social rule to respect is that the person who invites is the one who pays. So, if you invite Maldivian colleagues for a meal, it is implicitly expected that you will pay the bill.
The Three Pillars of Local Cuisine: Fish, Coconut, Starches
To understand what arrives on plates in the Maldives, you must start with three products that appear at every meal: fish (especially tuna), coconut, and starches (rice, tubers, flatbread).
Tuna, nicknamed the “king of fish”, has structured the diet since at least the 9th century. Archaeological remains show that inhabitants were already eating it massively in the Buddhist period, long before Islam. Tuna fishing developed in connection with the great trade of the Indian Ocean: the same boats that exported the famous cowrie shells also carried dried tuna, which appears in the accounts of Ibn Battuta in the 14th century and the Frenchman François Pyrard de Laval in the 17th.
In Maldivian cuisine, tuna, notably skipjack and yellowfin, is the fundamental ingredient. It is eaten fresh in curries (mas riha), boiled in clear soups (garudhiya), or processed into preserved products like dried and smoked fish (valhoamas or “Maldive fish”) used to season many dishes, and as a thick paste (rihaakuru) served daily. Although other fish like mahi-mahi, groupers, trevallies, or barracudas are also caught, this great migratory fish remains the dietary pivot.
Second pillar: the coconut palm, nicknamed “Dhivehi Ruh”, literally the “Maldivian palm tree,” considered the tree of life. Each stage of the fruit has a precise name and culinary use: kurumba (young nut with sweet water), gabulhi (flesh beginning to thicken), kaashi (mature nut for grating), mudi kaashi (germinated nut with spongy heart), up to kurolhi, the final, very hard stage. The pulp is grated (huni or huruva), milk is extracted (kaashi kiru) in varying thicknesses for curries and desserts, oil is pressed for cooking, coconut water is drunk (kurumba fen), flower sap is boiled (ruku raa) into syrup or coconut sugar (dhiyaa hakuru, karu hakuru). Every layer of the table, from savory to sweet, bears the signature of this tree.
Rice, although imported, is omnipresent and comes in various forms (steamed, porridge, cakes). Locally, the starchy base mainly comes from tubers (taro, sweet potato, cassava) and fruits (breadfruit, pandanus). Bread is not widely consumed and is often replaced by thin wheat flatbreads, roshi.
For an expatriate, remembering this triptych – fish, coconut, starch – allows you to quickly decode any local meal.
From Breakfast to Dinner: A Typical Day on the Plate
One of the frequent surprises for newcomers is the power of breakfast. Here, mornings are savory, rich, a far cry from a quickly consumed croissant.
The most emblematic ritual is mas huni, a mixture of shredded tuna, freshly grated coconut, onion, and chili, seasoned with lime, served with roshi. This very simple dish concentrates the entire culinary DNA of the country: tuna, coconut, chili heat, lime acidity, flatbread to eat with your fingers. In its modern version, canned tuna may replace fresh fish, but in traditional households, boiled or smoked tuna (valhoamas) is readily used for a deeper flavor.
Here, as a guide, is the price range an expatriate might encounter for breakfast in a local café rather than at home:
| Local Breakfast Set | Typical Location | Price Range (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Mas huni + 2 roshi + tea | Local island / hotaa | 2 – 3 |
| Kulhi mas (spicy tuna) + roshi | Local island / café | 1.5 – 2 |
| Rihaakuru dhiya + rice or roshi | Local island / guesthouse | 2.5 – 3.5 |
| Assortment of hedhikaa (5–6 pieces) + tea | Malé / hotaa | 3 – 5 |
| “Maldivian breakfast” set in a chic café | Malé | 4 – 9 |
| À la carte Maldivian breakfast at a resort | Resort | 15 – 25 |
Several morning preparations revolve around mas huni: kulhi mas (diced tuna sautéed in a spicy paste of onion, garlic, ginger, grated coconut, and sometimes tomato paste), kulhi rihaakuru (rihaakuru fish paste mixed with onions, very strong chilies, and lime), kulhi riha (very spicy tuna curry, often with smoked tuna). You also find rihaakuru dhiya, a sort of “soup” or hot sauce with coconut milk, onions, chili, curry leaves, and rihaakuru, into which rice or flatbread is dipped.
Garudhiya, a clear soup of boiled tuna with salt, garlic, chili, and curry leaves, is traditionally served with white rice. This dish, eaten at lunch or dinner, is accompanied by lime wedges, raw onions, and fresh chili. Everyone personalizes their plate by pouring broth over the rice, crushing the condiments, and adding lime juice.
Other lunch or dinner dishes, more familiar to palates accustomed to Indian or Sri Lankan curries, punctuate the menus: mas riha (tuna curry in coconut milk), kulhimas (dried or smoked tuna cooked in a thick, spicy sauce), kandu kukulhu (tuna fillet rolls stuffed with curry paste, “chicken of the sea” referring to their texture), kukulhu riha (chicken curry), bis riha (egg curry), not to mention a wide range of vegetable curries: barabo riha (pumpkin), tharukaaree riha (mixed vegetables), muranga faiy curry (moringa leaves), banbukeyo riha (breadfruit), to which small flakes of dried tuna are often added.
Hedhikaa are ‘short eats’, small fried or baked snacks consumed with tea, especially in the late afternoon. The most common are bajiyaa (triangular pastries with tuna, coconut, and spices), gulha (dough balls with smoked tuna, coconut, and chili), masroshi (flatbread stuffed with tuna and coconut), bis keemiya (crispy rolls with cabbage and onion), and kulhi boakibaa (savory cake with tuna and rice). Vegetarian versions with potato or cabbage also exist.
The day often ends with very sweet black tea (kalhu sai) or tea with milk (kiru sai), sometimes accompanied by sweets where coconut dominates: bondibaiy (thick, very sweet coconut milk rice pudding, flavored with cardamom and sometimes rose water), huni folhi (thin crepes filled with a coconut-coconut sugar mixture and then rolled), gabulhi boakiba (coconut and flour cake), addu bondi (cylindrical rolls of caramelized coconut wrapped in banana leaves, a specialty of the south). These very sugar-rich desserts appear frequently during religious festivals and major family events.
Tuna, Dhoni, and Sustainable Fishing: What an Expat Eats Supports the Local Economy
For an expatriate, fish is not just food: it’s a gateway to the country’s economy and ecology. Fishing is the second national industry after tourism, representing between 3% and 15% of GDP depending on the year, directly or indirectly employing over 30,000 people, and providing over 80% of export value, or over $120 million per year.
Over 50,000 tons of MSC-certified skipjack tuna are exported annually thanks to the sustainable pole-and-line fishing method.
Behind this sector are structured players, from the public company MIFCO to private companies like Horizon Fisheries, Ensis Fisheries, or Cyprea Marine Foods, coordinated by the exporters’ association (MSPEA) and fishermen’s organizations. An information system (Fisheries Information System) records catches to ensure traceability, under the watch of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
For an expatriate, supporting the local economy by consuming tuna produced locally (fresh, canned, smoked, or as rihaakuru) contributes to sustainable fishing. It is also crucial to inquire about the origin of the fish, especially in resorts, by favoring establishments that use line-caught tuna or species like grouper and snapper from regulated fisheries.
Some resort addresses make this transparency a selling point. They will readily explain, for example, that the grilled tuna served at the restaurant on an island like Baros comes from local pole-and-line fishing, that the lobster prepared in a fine-dining establishment was hand-collected by divers during the authorized season, or that the jobfish (snappers) offered at an island barbecue fall within monitored quotas. On a national scale, structures like the International Pole & Line Foundation work directly with resorts to bring the plate closer to the fisherman.
The Coconut Palm, from Tree of Life to Ubiquitous Ingredient
Living in the Maldives also means learning to read the multiple forms of the coconut. For an expatriate, this may seem anecdotal, but understanding these nuances helps better communicate with cooks, buy the right products at the market, and appreciate the finesse of dishes.
Coconut milk is not uniform: the first press of the pulp yields very fatty milk, ideal for rich curries or certain desserts. Subsequent presses produce lighter milks, suitable for soups or sauces. The pulp is traditionally obtained by rubbing the nut on a wooden seat equipped with a serrated knife (hunigondi), and tools like the hirun’dhaa exist for finer pulp.
The sap from the inflorescences, ruku raa, plays a role less known to foreigners but central to tradition: drunk fresh, slightly fermented, it gives a sweet, fizzy drink, raa. Reduced over heat, it becomes a thick syrup (dhiyaa hakuru), then a brown sugar (karu hakuru), omnipresent in local pastries. Cylindrical sweets called bondi, cakes like gabulhi boakiba, caramelized banana or cassava fritters rely on this signature sugar.
Beyond its fruits, the palm is an essential resource: its leaves serve as roofing, its fibers (coir) are made into ropes or nets, and its wood is used to build dhonis (traditional boats). This versatility explains its central place in local culture (stories, songs, wedding rituals, religious festivals). For expatriates, visiting a plantation or a basketry workshop helps connect market products to this living culture.
Where and How to Taste True Local Cuisine When Living There
Most expatriates do not live in overwater villas but in Malé, Hulhumalé, or on a local island where they work (school, hospital, administration, hotel project, NGO, etc.). Access to Maldivian gastronomy therefore depends heavily on the type of place where one eats.
The maximum price in Rufiyaa for a plate of rice and fish curry at a Maldivian hotal.
In Malé, some addresses have become landmarks for lovers of Maldivian breakfast or traditional snacks, while other, more modern establishments offer a “fusion” or Westernized version of these classics. You’ll easily see young Maldivians ordering a mas huni wrap or kulhi boakibaa to go, proof that local gastronomy knows how to reinvent itself.
The Malé Local Market, on Boduthakurufaanu Magu, is essential for cooking. You’ll find local fruits and vegetables (coconut, bananas, papayas, mangoes, taro…), spices, and aromatics. Nearby, the fish market offers fresh fish (tuna, grouper), and stalls sell processed products like smoked tuna or coconut sweets. Knowing how to shop there is an important step in expatriate life.
The table below summarizes the main places for culinary discovery for someone settled there:
| Type of Place | What You Eat / Buy There | Interest for an Expatriate |
|---|---|---|
| Hotaa (neighborhood café) | Maldivian breakfast, rice & curry, hedhikaa, tea | Observe local life, eat on a budget |
| Malé / local island market | Fresh fish, fruits, vegetables, coconut, spices, snacks | Cook at home, discover raw products |
| Guesthouses on local islands | Home-style dishes, often simple but authentic buffet | Understand family cooking, adapt recipes |
| Resorts (restaurants) | Gourmet or fusion versions of local dishes | See how chefs reinvent classics |
| Cooking classes / food tours | Workshops, tastings, market visits | Structure your culinary learning |
For those who stay or work regularly in resorts, many high-end establishments have evolved their menus towards more local products and “terroir” cuisine, sometimes with a strong plant-based component. This creates very contrasting experiences: on one side, the canteen-style garudhiya, served in a metal bowl; on the other, a grilled pole-and-line tuna fillet presented on a designer plate with a coconut and lime emulsion.
Special Diets: Eating Vegetarian or Vegan in the Maldives
Even if traditional cuisine relies heavily on tuna, it would be wrong to believe that the archipelago is a desert for vegetarians or vegans. Under the influence of India and Sri Lanka, vegetable curries and legume-based dishes (muguriha, dhal curry) are well-established, and the coconut–rice–vegetable base lends itself very well to an animal-free diet.
Many traditional dishes can be easily adapted or are naturally vegetarian. Among the savory options: tharukaaree riha (mixed vegetable curry with coconut milk, with the option to tone down the chili), barabo mashuni (fish-free version of mas huni, based on pumpkin and coconut), huni roshi (wheat and coconut flatbreads), bis keemiya with cabbage and carrot, boakibaa made with bread or taro, and salads like boshi mashuni (banana blossom, coconut, chili). For desserts, almost all traditional recipes are based on coconut, coconut sugar, and rice. Some use condensed milk or ghee, but many can be veganized in home cooking, for example by replacing butter with coconut oil.
In resorts, the trend towards “wellness” or “plant-based” cuisine has gained significant momentum. Several establishments have developed fully vegetarian or vegan concepts integrated into their offerings: dedicated restaurants, “Wellness Your Way” menus, systematic mention of vegan options on the menu, vegetarian pizzas or burgers, sophisticated vegetable curries. For an expatriate based on a local island but required to visit these hotels for work, this opens an interesting area of exploration: you see how chefs reinterpret Maldivian ingredients (coconut, breadfruit, taro, mango) in the style of contemporary fine dining.
On inhabited islands, the mention “vegan” is rare on menus. It’s advisable to clearly explain your dietary constraints, for example “no fish: mas nuvee” and “no eggs: dhi nuvee,” and to favor vegetable and rice dishes. Guesthouses and host families often adapt, especially if notified in advance. Available options typically include rice, rotis, curried vegetables, fruits, coconut in various forms, and sometimes vegetable fritters or flatbreads.
Useful Words and Gestures for Better Integration at the Table
The official language is Dhivehi, but English is very widely used in tourist areas and professional interactions. However, a few local words are enough to break the ice, especially when it comes to food.
Greeting when entering a house or café with “Assalaamu Alaikum” (peace be upon you) elicits a “Wa Alaikum assalaam” in response. Saying thank you (Shukuriyaa) after a meal or a generously offered dish is expected. To ask the price of a dish at the market or in a café, “Kihaa varah?” or “Kimaathi?” will be understood.
At the table, it is customary to use only the right hand for eating, passing, or receiving dishes, as a sign of respect. It is also polite to remove your shoes before entering a house. Regarding attire, clothing that covers shoulders and knees is recommended on local islands. Swimwear and tank tops should be reserved for resort beaches or the rare specifically marked “bikini beaches.”
For an expatriate invited to a colleague’s home, bringing a small gift from your home country – wrapped edible specialty, small object unavailable locally – is greatly appreciated. Maldivians do not expect systematic reciprocity but appreciate this gesture. It can also be wise to inquire in advance about any restrictions (some families do not consume sugar during illness, for example) to avoid missteps.
Eating Local with Sustainability in Mind: A Daily Challenge
Maldivian gastronomy is not disconnected from the climate disruptions that directly threaten the country. Sea level rise, coral bleaching due to rising water temperatures, fishing pressure on certain reef species (groupers, emperors, snappers) are all factors affecting what will still be possible to serve tomorrow.
On an individual scale, an expatriate can positively influence their environment through their food choices. It is advisable to favor pole-and-line caught tuna over vulnerable reef fish, to limit the consumption of products imported from afar when a local equivalent exists, and to take an interest in restaurants that source seasonal products from local fishermen and farmers. On a practical level, adopt these habits: ask about the fishing method of a fish, avoid species already under heavy pressure like some groupers or emperors, and choose dishes like vegetable curries over reef seafood platters whose source is not clearly indicated.
This coherence extends beyond the table: using “reef-safe” sunscreens to limit impact on corals, reducing single-use plastics in favor of reusable bottles, refusing to buy souvenirs made of coral, shells, or carapaces. On the public authorities side, a “Green Tax” levied on tourist stays funds, among other things, water and sanitation infrastructure or coastal protections; choosing to regularly stay in establishments that are transparent about their waste management and energy consumption strengthens this movement.
For an expatriate, observing long-term changes (like reef evolution, market relocation, or the emergence of local restaurants) and understanding the economic and ecological context gives meaning to daily life and diet.
Exploring Cuisine on Your Own: Cooking, Learning, Sharing
Moving to the Maldives is the perfect opportunity to build a repertoire of home recipes inspired by the local gastronomy. The advantage is that many everyday dishes are quick to prepare: many curries can be made in about thirty minutes, based on sautéed aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger, curry leaves), a spice mix (turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, pepper, chili), then coconut milk and fish or vegetables added at the end of cooking.
Preparing typical Maldivian dishes like mas huni, a tuna curry, or garudhiya soup can become a simple routine. Key ingredients, like unsweetened full-fat coconut milk and fresh fish, are available in markets and small supermarkets, provided you know the good brands and arrival times.
To enrich this approach, cooking classes are offered on some local islands or in resorts, sometimes organized by agencies specializing in culinary experiences. There, you learn precise gestures – grating a coconut on a hunigondi, dosing the local chili githeyo mirus, turning boakibaa so they cook evenly – but also the stories and songs that accompany the cooking.
Finally, living there long-term offers something tourists don’t have: the time to build ties with families, fishermen, market vendors. It is they who, one day, will show you how to prepare a family version of rihaakuru dhiya that you won’t find in any cookbook, or offer you a piece of mudi kaashi (spongy heart of a germinated nut) to snack on. At that moment, you won’t just be an expatriate in the Maldives: you’ll be a little part of the table.
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Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.
On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.
Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.
