ah, rainy fridays. they’re made for dhivehi keun. or our parents’ chicken curries or biriyani. today, tho, sampaafulhu shows me @food_bowl_9327417 and their gram looks interesting. they offer kukulhu garudhiya and rihaakurudhiya packs so i get in touch with them and order one of each. it’s an exciting time for fans of our humble island-food with so many places offering the good stuff.

so, the first night, they send over some kukulhu garudhiya. and the pack, which comes with their wares in a plastic tray, is brilliant.

‘there’s a lot here,’ says samfa. ‘even pickles. is that a fried chicken drumstick?’

it is. we don’t waste time talking and dive right into the thick of things. meaning i have to tear off pieces of chicken for samfa so she can eat them daintily with her fork.

‘my god,’ says samfa. ‘it’s wonderful. i love the kukulhu AND garudhiya.’

the garudhiya seems to have drawn inspiration from tom yum, there’s a nice lemongrass flavour cradling everything, and it seems to have seeped into the chicken. while i don’t enjoy the pickle as much as samfa, i do love the lonumirus and the thelli faiy and kulhlhafilaa & rihaakuru satani. the latter doesn’t seem like it would go well with everything else but it is surprisingly good. the fried chicken drumstick could’ve used less salt, but that said, it’s a truly great meal and well worth the money.

the next night, we get a taste of their rihaakurudhiya. it doesn’t look very appetising – the dhiya looks watery and it tastes the same too though the rihaakuru taste isn’t bad.

‘it’s not on the same level as the kukulhu garudhiya,’ says samfa. ‘but the flavour gets better if you squeeze in the lumbo.’

so i do that, and it’s true. i vastly prefer creamier rihaakurudhiya, but then this might be good for someone who likes it more watery. the lonumirus is excellent, though i wish the two fried chili were crispier. as for the fihunu mas, it’s not bad but kind of tough. the portions are generous as always and we keep one rihaakurudhiya pack aside to eat later.

‘i’d choose the kukulhu garudhiya pack over this any day,’ says samfa. and i am inclined to agree.