Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Mas Huni
Shredded smoked tuna tossed with grated coconut, onion, chili, and lime, the Maldivian breakfast, with roshi flatbread.
Maldivian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 10 min
~496 cal · 37g protein · 19g carbs · 31g fat · 9g fiber · 7g sugars · 27g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Mas huni is the classic Maldivian breakfast, shredded smoked tuna tossed with grated fresh coconut, finely chopped onion, chili, and lime. Tuna and coconut are the two pillars of Maldivian cuisine, and this dish brings them together in the country's most iconic morning meal.
The smoked and dried tuna ('valho mas') is a staple protein of the island nation, mixed by hand with coconut until fragrant and flaked. Bright with lime and chili, it is savory, fresh, and satisfying.
Eaten with 'roshi' flatbread and sweet tea to start the day across the Maldives, mas huni is simple and local.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups smoked or canned tuna, finely shredded
1.5 cups fresh grated coconut
1 red onion, very finely chopped
2 green chili
from 2 limes lime juice
4 roshi (flatbread), to serve
Instructions
1
Put the shredded tuna (or tofu), coconut, and onion in a bowl.
2
Add the chopped chili, a big squeeze of lime, and a good pinch of salt.
3
Knead and massage everything together with your fingers for a couple of minutes until well blended and slightly moist.
4
Taste and adjust lime, chili, and salt, it should be bright and punchy.
5
Serve with warm roshi and hot sweet tea for breakfast.
Malé breakfast tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Malé. Male is a dense atoll capital that starts the day with mas huni, smoked tuna shredded with coconut, onion, and chili, eaten with flatbread. Maldivian cooking is tuna, coconut, and starch in endless variation, from the clear tuna broth garudhiya, the national dish, to coconut-milk curries like mas riha.
🗺️
Maldives. Maldivian food is built on the sea and the coconut, tuna in every form, coconut, and fiery chili, epitomized by mas huni eaten at breakfast. Fresh, simple, and fish-forward, it's the taste of twenty-six atolls and some twelve hundred coral islands.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Maldives
Mas RihaA Maldivian tuna curry in a fragrant coconut sauce with curry leaves, pandan, and dried chili.
GarudhiyaA clear, fragrant tuna broth served over rice with lime, chili, and onion, the everyday heart of the Maldivian table.
Foni BoakibaaA dense baked pudding-cake of rice, coconut, and rosewater, a sweet Maldivian favorite for Ramadan and celebrations.
Browse all Maldives recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Maldives meal
Foni BoakibaaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Mas Huni?
Shredded smoked tuna tossed with grated coconut, onion, chili, and lime, the Maldivian breakfast, with roshi flatbread.
Where does Mas Huni come from?
Mas Huni is a Maldivian dish from Malé, Maldives.
Can Mas Huni be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mas Huni recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Mas Huni safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Mas Huni take to make?
About 25 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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