A vacation anywhere in the Maldives guarantees sweet memories you are sure to cherish for a lifetime. The island nation is a destination of beauty, brimming with exciting adventures, many of which are exclusive to the country.
Whether blackwater diving to admire aquatic life, snorkeling among Manta rays, or feeling the rush of water sports, you’ll surely leave the country in a state of unmatched euphoria.
At the same time, Maldivian islands have roots steeped in culture. Tourists visiting the country have the opportunity to not only witness but often partake in local music and dance events as well as age-old artisanal traditions.
Maldivian food is another indulgence not to miss. While there is no shortage of uniquely spectacular restaurants in the Maldives serving world cuisines, local specialties have a distinct flavor. And for travelers with a penchant for desserts, must-have Maldivian sweets are more than enough to satisfy all your cravings.
Staying in the Maldives
Before you can savor the different desserts, booking a stay in the Maldives is essential to enter the country. Regarding accommodations, the island nation has a mind-boggling array of options.
At the top are the luxurious island resorts of the Maldives. Offering the finest of lodgings over the water and on land, these retreats showcase opulence of unparalleled nature.
Spread out across different atolls, you can select a resort based on its location, villas, ambiance, or features. Upon starting your search, it won’t take long to realize that the Maldives has everything. There’s the chance to pick between idyllic beach villas for couples, iconic water bungalows, and incredible family-friendly island escapes.
Alternatively, you can stay in guesthouses on inhabited islands among the local population. While simple in their character, these abodes have a welcoming atmosphere, friendly hosts, and modern in-room conveniences. More importantly, they are ideal for budget travelers in the Maldives.
Once you’ve settled in, it’s time to immerse yourself in the local way of life. And tasting Maldivian sweets is a pretty good place to start on this journey of discovery.
Bondibai
Traditionally enjoyed on all celebratory occasions, Bondibai is a thick sticky rice pudding with coconut and condensed milk. This sweet dish also typically includes a dash of cardamom, cinnamon, and pandan leaves, for a distinct flavor.
Locals usually add 2 cups of sugar to every 1 cup of rice to make bondibai. You’ll also find that Maldivians often pair the bondibai with chili tuna for a sweet and spicy mouthful.
Depending on the ingredients and seasonings used, there can be many versions of Bondibai. However, three options are among the prominent Maldivian sweets loved by the population.
Banbukeyo Bondibai
Banbukeyo is a regional term for breadfruit, a staple fruit in the Maldives. So, Banbukeyo Bondibai includes making the dish using breadfruit in place of rice.
Handulu Bondibai
Handulu Bondibai is a popular Eid dessert in the archipelago. On this occasion, Maldivians cook rice, adding rose or jasmine-infused water to enhance the flavor.
Saagu Bondibai
Saagu or Sago Bondibai is a tapioca starch extract dessert. After cooking the sago, pour it into a pan with sugar, spices, and coconut milk until the mixture is nice and thick. If you prefer it to be creamier, add a little bit of condensed milk as well.
Zileybi
Zileybi or Jilebi is a sweet fried snack made with all-purpose flour, popular in the Maldives and other countries of the Indian subcontinent.
To make this sweet treat, prepare the batter with flour, baking powder, vanilla essence, cinnamon, pandan leaves, and cardamoms. The next step is pouring the thick paste into hot oil using a piping cone.
Zileybi’s trademark spiral shape distinguishes it from other must-try Maldivian sweets. Once ready, the crunchy spirals go into a thick sugary syrup. Zileybi is an overly sweet and sticky finger-licking dessert.
Addu Bon’di
Originating from the Addu atoll in the southern part of Maldives, Addu Bon’di is a local confection consisting of scraped coconut, jaggery, coconut syrup, and dried banana leaves.
It is a popular appetizer resembling a brown cylindrical candy that you can cut into multiple pieces for easy serving. The presence of jasmine and huvandhumaa extracts makes the snack more aromatic.
The dried banana leaves are for wrapping the bon’di in a large cigar-like shape. Therefore, you must first peel off the cover to reveal this Maldivian dessert.
Naroh Falidha
Naroh Falidha includes ingredients like jasmine water, coconut honey, palm toddy (dhiyaa hakuru), and breadfruit.
It’s made in the shape of a donut and is thus sometimes known as the Maldivian Donut. Compared to other Maldivian desserts, naroh falidha isn’t all that popular, and many locals don’t even know about it. So, if you come across someone making it, do give this rarity a try.
Dhonkeyo Kajuru
Dhonkeyo Kajuru is like a sweet banana fritter. To prepare the snack, begin by mashing ripe bananas with powdered sugar. Then add a few drops of vanilla essence, grated coconut, and baking powder.
Once ready, deep fry the dollops to a crunchy brown outside and a soft inside. Bite-sized snacks in the truest form, make sure you let them cool down a little before popping one whole into your mouth.
Pirini
Made with rice and condensed milk, Pirini is much like the Indian sweet Kheer. The first step in preparing this Maldivian dessert consists of grinding rice till it turns into a coarse powder. Then, add it to a pan with water, sugar, and pandan leaves.
When cooked, add condensed milk and vanilla essence. Finally, remove it into a tray and sprinkle cinnamon and cardamom powder. Locals usually consume this dish on Fridays and even substitute rice with semolina for a quick snack.
As with most Maldivian sweets, you’ll find several regional varieties of the dish, including Berabo Pirini. In this version, grated pumpkin takes center stage. Pirini tastes best when eaten after being in the fridge overnight.
Saagu Kandhi
Saagu Kandhi is a liquid porridge-like pudding that primarily serves as comfort food on rainy days and festive occasions like Eid.
The star ingredient for this dish is sago, added to and boiled along with rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, cardamom, pandan leaves, jasmine-infused water, and sugar.
Locals also make kandhi with sweet potatoes. Fufoo Kandhi is yet another version of the dish wherein the main product is wax gourd along with rice. You can serve kandhi either hot or cold.
Boakuri Falho
It’s hard to explain the texture of Boakuri Falho, but it’s somewhat sticky and slimy. The primary product used to make it is papaya, which is just on the verge of ripening.
Making boakuri falho is reasonably straightforward. You first boil water and sugar. Once the sugar dissolves, add the papaya, and cook it on low heat. Make sure you stir it once in a while so that it gets evenly cooked.
As the mixture boils down to a sticky consistency, remove it from the pan, put it in a bowl, and bite in!
Gulab Jamun
Consumed as soft fried balls, Gulab Jamun is among the most well-known delicacies in the Indian subcontinent.
To prepare the sweet treat, you need to solidify milk and mix it with flour and sugar. Normally in India, they use curdled fresh milk. However, since that is not available in the Maldives, locals use milk powder.
After deep-frying the balls, the gulab jamuns go into sugary syrup with hints of rose water, saffron, and cardamom for an hour.
Gulab Jamun is another Maldivian dessert that you can have either hot or cold. The perfect pairing, though, is taking a hot jamun and eating it with refreshing coconut or vanilla ice cream.
Suji
Suji, or Soojie, is an energy-boosting sweet drink. You’ll come across it primarily as part of the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan.
Served in a glass or a small bowl, it consists of semolina, condensed milk, cardamom, cinnamon, and rose water. Although condensed milk is sweet, many people still add sugar to the mix.
The more interesting ingredients of suji are lightly sauteed onions, raisins, and Indian almonds. Together, they give this Maldivian dessert a caramelized nutty flavor.
Boakiba
Majorly influenced by seafood, coconuts, and starch ingredients, Dhivehi cuisine includes several short eats. Mostly consumed with a cup of evening tea, Boakiba is a popular snack that looks like a fluffy cake.
Similar to bondibai, boakiba is among the popular desserts in the Maldives that comes in different variations, including savory options.
Foni Boakiba
Also known as Githeyo Boakiba in some regions, the snack is a form of ghee cake that includes ingredients like ground rice, sugar, and coconut milk. Additionally, fried onions make the dish a little crispy, while cardamom and cinnamon add a hint of spiciness.
Kulhi Boakiba
Being a tropical island nation, Maldivian food is incomplete without fish. Kulhi Boakiba is a smoked tuna cake with desiccated coconut, thinly sliced onions, fresh lemon juice, ginger, and curry leaves.
Dhandi Aluvi Boakiba
With ingredients like cassava and tender coconut flesh, Dhandi Aluvi Boakiba is a dessert that requires high cooking skill and precision. The cassava cake should be free of any strong smell and look white inside.
Gabulhi Boakiba
Made with grated coconut flesh, sifted plain flour, sugar, and rose water, Gabulhi Boakiba is an easy-to-make one-pot recipe. After smoothly blending all ingredients, the thick paste goes in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Paan Boakiba
A Ramadan specialty, this Maldivian sweet consists of bread, condensed milk, vanilla essence, eggs, and water. Having a cake-like texture, its sweetness depends on how much condensed milk you use.
Bis Haluvaa
Similar to sliced custard, Bis Haluvaa is one of the easiest Maldivian desserts to cook at home. The only ingredients you need to make it are condensed milk, ghee, and eggs.
Deliciously sweet and creamy, it requires great strength and accuracy, as most of the preparation requires you to whisk the mixture and then let it set inside a double boiler.
As soon as the mixture is ready, place it in a baking pan or any kind of utensil. Then, put it in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours. Your bis haluvaa is now ready!
Where to find Maldivian desserts
Although Maldivian food is available across the archipelago, you still need to make a slight effort when wanting to try something specific.
Most island resorts have multiple restaurants. However, they cater to a more international clientele, offering Japanese, Italian, French, and Indian cuisines. Maldivian food is often a part of buffet breakfasts and dinners, but only in limitation. The good part is that you can request the chef or staff for a specific Maldivian dessert, and they will source it for you, one way or another.
The capital city of Male is undoubtedly the best place to savor Maldivian sweets. Besides restaurants primarily serving Maldivian delights, it also has several tea shops known as sai hotaas. Here, you can enjoy a range of short bites, including a good selection of Maldivian desserts.
The same is also true for the public islands of the Maldives. Whether at your guesthouse, local restaurants, or a sai hotaa, Maldivian sweets are forever available. To have them freshly made, plan your visit around the evening when most residents indulge in after-work snacks and tea. Moreover, always ask about island-specific sweets, as different atolls often have specific Maldivian sweets local to them.
