Mas Roshi

What it really is

Flatbread stuffed with tuna, coconut, onion and chilli, commonly eaten for breakfast.

Mas roshi is a Maldivian flatbread filled with tuna, coconut, onion and chilli. It is eaten at breakfast and in everyday meals across the islands. The bread is shaped around the savory filling and cooked until the dough is set. It brings together a grain-based wrapper and fish filling in a portable form.

A dough is prepared as for a flatbread, filled with a mixture of tuna, grated coconut, onion and chilli, then sealed and cooked on a hot surface. The filling may use cooked or smoked tuna, depending on the recipe. The bread browns while the filling warms inside. Thickness, filling ratio and heat vary from cook to cook. The name should not be used to imply one exact fish preparation.

Mas roshi is related in ingredients to mas huni, but the two are served differently: mas huni is an open mixture typically eaten with flatbread, while mas roshi encloses filling inside the bread itself. The filled bread is suitable for breakfast or a snack and can be carried easily. It is often eaten warm, when the bread is soft and the filling fragrant.

How it's served

Serve whole or cut in halves, warm, as a breakfast item or snack. If served with sauce or another side, name it separately.

How to write it on the menu

Describe it as tuna-and-coconut stuffed flatbread and state whether the fish is smoked. Confirm wheat, fish, coconut, chilli and cooking fat with the kitchen before making allergen or dietary claims.