Gulha

For the Ethiopian village, see Menachek.

Gulha

Gulha snacks from Maldives. Hanḍū gulha
Type	Snack food
Place of origin	Maldives
Region or state	South Asia
Serving temperature	Preferably freshly-prepared along with hot tea[1]
Main ingredients	Flour, tuna and grated coconut
Variations	Made with wheat flour or with rice flour dough

Gulha (Dhivehi: ގުޅަ; pronounced [guɭa]) is a typical and popular Maldivian snack food.

Gulha are small ball-shaped dumplings that are stuffed with a mixture of tuna, finely chopped onion, grated coconut, and chili.^[2] Depending on the cook, turmeric, lime juice ginger and chopped curry leaves are added to the mixture. Once ready, the gulha are deep-fried.^[3]

Gulha can be made with wheat flour or rice flour dough. The rice-flour gulha are usually smaller, harder and more crunchy. The size of gulha may vary from the large ones that are slightly larger than the size of a ping-pong ball to the smallest which are about the size of marbles. This snack was traditionally eaten with sweetened hot tea and sometimes also together with other short eats.^[1]

The fish used traditionally for stuffing gulha was commonly Maldives fish (Dhivehi: ވަޅޯމަސް, romanized: valhoamas), but nowadays many Maldivians use canned tuna.^[1] Alternatively, gulha may be oven-baked instead of deep-fried.

See also

• Maldivian cuisine
• List of tuna dishes

References

1. Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom, Barcelona 1999, ISBN 84-7254-801-5
2. Ellis, R. (2008). Maldives. Bradt Guides. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-84162-266-8. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
3. Xavier Romero-Frias, Eating on the Islands, Himal Southasian, Vol. 26 no. 2, pages 69-91 ISSN 1012-9804

External links

• Eating on the Islands - As times have changed, so has the Maldives' unique cuisine and culture