Claim: The fish used in Mas huni is traditionally Maldive fish (cured tuna fish traditionally produced in Maldives), but currently many use canned tuna, and if the fish were scarce, chopped leaves, muranga pods or sweet potato were added to the recipe.
Evidence: The fish used in mas huni was as a rule Maldive fish but currently many Maldivians use canned tuna. Traditionally when fish was scarce, chopped leaves were added to the mas huni mixture. The green leaves of certain local plants and trees such as digutiyara (Senna occidentalis), kuḷḷafila or gōramfau (Launaea sarmentosa), mābulhā (Abutilon theophrasti), muranga (Moringa oleifera), massāgu (Amaranthus spinosus or Amaranthus viridis) sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and ḷos (Pisonia grandis), among others, replaced the fish in mas huni in a smaller or greater proportion. Maldive fish (Dhivehi: ވަޅޯމަސް) is cured tuna fish traditionally produced in Maldives. Common names include moringa, drumstick tree (from the long, slender, triangular seed-pods), horseradish tree (from the taste of the roots, which resembles horseradish), and ben oil tree or benzolive tree.