A few steps inland from the fish market, the Malé Local Market is where the produce coming in from the outer islands lands — coconuts in green and brown stages, bunches of bananas, breadfruit, jackfruit, pumpkins, sweet potato, plus the long bundles of dried tuna called rihaakuru and valhomas that flavour most Maldivian curries.
It is small — a single long shed, a few dozen stalls — but it is the best place in town to see what people actually cook with. Ask for hedhikaa, the deep-fried fish snacks that are sold cheap from the back of several stalls. Cash only; bring small denominations.