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Short Eat · Fried Pastry

Bajiya

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It looks just like a samosa, but crack one open and you'll find fish, not potato.

Bajiya is a triangular or semi-circular pastry filled with a spiced mix of fish, grated coconut, and onion, then deep-fried to a crisp shell. Like gulha, it's a hedhikaa tea-shop staple, laid out on trays for customers to pick and pay by the piece.

Why it's made this way: The samosa-style pastry shape spread through Indian Ocean trade routes, and Maldivian cooks adapted it with local reef fish in place of the potato or lentil fillings common elsewhere in South Asia.

Roughly what's in it

250kcal
7gprotein
28gcarbs
12gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
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Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.