Maldives – Bis Keemiya (Filled Pastry)

by Fariha Saeed

About the dish

Bis Keemiya is a delicious pastry filled with tuna, egg, spices, vegetables. This is so popular in the Maldives it is similar to rolls and samosa. The texture of the pastry is flakey and crispy from the outside and soft from the inside. The texture of the filling is so unique because the egg and tuna are soft and the vegetables are crispy. The pastry is a little sweet so it tastes really good with spiced filling. This is the best snack to have with coffee. The aroma of it is so amazing that makes you drool. This is also very famous in India, Indonesia, Africa, Pakistan, etc. You can also eat this as lunch. This snack is sold by street vendors. This is also available in Restaurants and cafes. People also serve this dish as an appetizer. You can add any kind of fish to it but the original recipe includes tuna. You have two options to cook it

• You can bake it
• You can deep fry it

Most people prefer frying it because the pastry is a little dry so when you bake it. It becomes drier. Frying is the best option to cook the pastry. You can make pastry at home or you can also buy it from the store. You can add different types of filling in it like potatoes, chicken, beef, vegetables, etc. You can serve this with any kind of sauce you like and you can also serve this with and beverage. The crispiness that comes from vegetable taste so delicious. You can give this to kids like their school lunch. This is the best pastry in the Maldives. I wish you can taste it so you can know that this is the best snack.

Nutrition list

• Calories 210
• fat 8 g
• carbohydrates 18 g
• protein 5 g

Ingredients and cooking

For the dough

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• water as needed
• 1 tsp Baking powder

Cooking

Take a mixing bowl and add plain flour, salt, and oil and mix it until it becomes crumble and then add icing sugar, black pepper, baking powder, and water. Then knead it until a smooth and soft dough is formed then cover it with a piece of cloth and let it sit for 5 to 6 hours.

For the filling

• 1 1/2 cup smoked tuna
• 2 Githeyo Mirus (chopped)
• 1/4 cup curry leaf (chopped)
• 1/2 cup sweet corn
• 1 cup cabbage (sliced)
• 2 boiled egg (chopped)
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 cup oil

Cooking

Take a pan and turn the heat low and add oil, onion, cabbage and saute it for 5 to 7 minutes. Now add tuna, salt, Githeyo Mirus, curry leaf, black pepper, egg, corn, turmeric and mix well to make sure that all the things are fully combined. Then take a small piece of dough and make a circle.

Now take 2 tbsp of filling and place it in the center and then fold the dough in a square or cylinder shape and deep fry it until golden brown. Serve this with salsa or any kind of sauce.