🥔 SIDE
Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread)
Thin, soft flatbreads of plain flour, oil and boiling water, cooked on a hot pan until they puff, torn to scoop up mas huni or mixed into fish curry with a squeeze of lime.
Maldivian · easy · serves 8
prep 25 min · cook 30 min · plus 30 min hands-off time
~175 cal · 3g protein · 24g carbs · 7g fat · 1g fiber · 0g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Roshi is the everyday flatbread of the Maldives, the bread that goes with almost everything. It is close to the Indian , but Maldivian cooks make it with plain white flour rather than wholemeal atta, mixed with oil and hot water into a soft dough and rolled thin.
At breakfast roshi is torn and used to pick up mas huni, the mix of tuna, grated coconut, onion and chili, and it is eaten with mas riha, the tuna curry, and with garudhiya, the clear fish broth, alongside or instead of rice. Maldivian families eat it two ways: some tear off a piece and use it to pinch up the curry, while others tear several roshi into small pieces, pour a few ladles of curry over them, squeeze on lime and mix it all together. Roshi is also the base of tuna kothu roshi, a well-known dish of Malé.
Making the dough with boiling water gives soft roshi that stay pliable, and they are kept wrapped in a cloth or foil so they do not dry out.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, nut-, 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 8
- 2 cups (250 g) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (240 ml) boiling water, you may not need it all
Instructions
- 1Sift the flour into a bowl, stir in the salt and make a well in the middle. Pour the oil into the well.
- 2Pour in the boiling water a little at a time, mixing with a metal spoon, until the flour comes together in clumps. Stop adding water once there is no dry flour left.
- 3As soon as the dough is cool enough to touch, knead it for about 5 minutes into a soft, smooth dough that does not stick. Divide it into 16 balls, flatten them slightly, cover with a damp cloth and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- 4Heat a flat pan or non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Dust a ball with flour and roll it out thin, about 14 to 15 cm across.
- 5Lay the roshi in the dry pan and cook for about 1 minute, until air pockets appear and the underside has light brown spots. Turn it, press it gently with a wooden spatula or folded cloth so it puffs, and cook for 1 minute more. Roll the next one while each one cooks.
- 6Stack the cooked roshi in a cloth or wrap them in foil so they steam and stay soft. Serve warm with mas huni, mas riha or garudhiya.
Maldivian home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Malé. Mas huni is assembled rather than cooked. The tuna has already been smoked and dried into valhoamas, so it is simply shredded up with grated coconut, onion, chilli and lime and eaten with roshi flatbread. Maldivians, unlike much of the Pacific, have no tradition of eating fish raw.
🗺️
Maldives. The cured tuna itself is an old export industry. Skipjack is boiled, smoked and sun-dried until it is as hard as a piece of wood and will keep indefinitely without refrigeration, then pounded to flakes; Sri Lanka has bought it for centuries and calls it umbalakada. The stock left from the boiling is reduced into rihaakuru, a dark savoury paste eaten with rice and chilli.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Maldives
Mas HuniShredded smoked tuna tossed with grated coconut, onion, chili, and lime, the Maldivian breakfast, with roshi flatbread.
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.
Browse all Maldives recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Steamer.
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
Karaa Fani (Maldivian Watermelon Drink)Drink
Foni BoakibaaDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread)?
Thin, soft flatbreads of plain flour, oil and boiling water, cooked on a hot pan until they puff, torn to scoop up mas huni or mixed into fish curry with a squeeze of lime.
Where does Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread) come from?
Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread) is a Maldivian dish from Malé, Maldives.
Can Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Roshi (Maldivian Flatbread) take to make?
About 1 h 25 min in all: 25 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking, plus 30 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 8.
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