Mauritian Cuisine part 1

In Mauritius, there are thousands of street food vendors in every corner of the street, but our Mauritian cuisine is out of this world. As it is a multicultural island, with people from all the continents established here, we have developed a unique fusion flavours of Indian, Chinese, English, French and Creole dishes in our cuisine. So here are some selection of our exotic traditional homemade recipes for the food lovers, which are very simple to prepare. 

Local Massala

Firstly, let me present you our local massala which is the main flavour in most of our Mauritian cuisine. It is prepared with lots of Indian species which give us an incredible aromatic taste.

Here are the ingredients:-

-250g coriander seeds 

-125g cumin

-100g dried chillies

-125g dried tumeric 

-100g whole black pepper 

-50g fenugreek ( methi)

-50g cloves

-25g cardamoms pods 

-50g cinnamon 

-25g black mustard seeds

-Curry leaves

Grill and crush all the ingredients on a "Roche à Cari" or blend in a mixer. Our Mauritian massala is ready!

Dry salted fish 

1. For the non-veg, we have our typical "Rougail poisson salé" or "Rougail sounouk"(dry salted fish in tomato sauce). 

Here are the ingredients and preparation:

-250g dry salted fish(sounouk)

-1 chopped onion

-1tsp garlic paste

-125ml tomato puree

-2 chopped red tomatoes 

-3tsp olive oil or cooking oil

-Green chilli(optional)

-1tsp lemon juice(optional)

-Chopped coriander and a bunch of thyme 

Method:-

To start, place the poisson salé (dry salted fish) in a bowl of cold water then bring it to boil for 5-10 minutes.

Drain it and crumble into small pieces and put aside.

Preparation for the 'Rougail'(tomato sauce):-

-Fry the chopped onions, add garlic paste, bunch of thyme, crushed tomatoes and tomato puree. Let cook for 15minutes till it turn into a thicken red coloured sauce.

-After 15 minutes, add the fried salted fish, mix properly with the tomato sauce. 

- Garnish with fresh chopped coriander. Voila! Our "Rougail Poisson Salé"(dry salted fish in tomato sauce) is ready. 😋😋

2. You can also cook the dry salted fish with mango. Here I present you, "Rougail de Mangue"

(Mango Rougail)...

Ingredients:-

-4 green mangoes

-125g dry salted fish

-3 cloves garlic(crushed or blended)

-2 chopped onions 

-3 green chillies (cut in halves)

-2tsp oil

Method:- 

-Soak the salted fish in the warm water.

-Drain and cut the salted fish into small pieces.

-Peel and grate the mangoes, press to remove excess liquid and put aside.

-Fry in hot oil in a 'carray' or pan, add garlic, chillies and chopped onions. 

-At the end, add the mangoes and let cook for about 5-10 minutes.😊😊

Moringa soup

"Bouillon Bréde Mouroum"(the moringa leaves soup) is a part of the Mauritian traditional cuisine packed with antioxidants and substances that protect our cells from damage and also boost our immune system. It has 7 times more vitamin C than oranges and 15 times more potassium than banana. It is also used for medical purposes and to make tea as well.

Ingredients:- 

-Moringa leaves

-Finely chopped onions 

-1tsp garlic-ginger paste

-1tsp oil 

-Salt 

  

So here is an easy method to prepare this useful natural plant as a dish.

-First, sort and wash the leaves and set them aside.

-Fry the onions, ginger-garlic paste in the hot oil in a 'carray'(frying pan)

-Add 1litre of water, the moringa leaves and bring to the boil.

- Season with salt and cook for 5 minutes. The moringa soup is ready...😋