Squid Thoran
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I am more than half way through my vacation and now I don’t even know how I’ll ever be able to go back to my desk job. Not having any responsibility suits me just fine. Wish I could do this back home in Seattle, just laze around all day and eat yummy home cooked hot meals three times a day. I am getting horribly homesick these days, I can’t even remember why I decided to take this month long vacation alone. Oh yeah, I do, because I was too impatient and bitchy to wait till Siv could take a break from work. In my defense, he couldn’t even commit to a particular quarter for our potential vacation days. Anyway, I thought I will teach him a lesson and forgot that I was going to suffer as well. I have been this stupid before and I am sure this is not the last time.
Anyway, I am trying to drown my sorrows by hogging as much delicious food as I can. Especially seafood, as I don’t really cook seafood the traditional mallu way back in Seattle. Also, I normally only cook fish, not the “exotic stuff” like squid, mussels, clams etc as those require a little too much work to clean. We get all types of seafood here in Kerala, here are a few pictures of the variety I found on our trip to Fort Kochi.
We bought a ton of stuff to take back home from there, including some squid which I love to eat, but hate to cook. Squid is not something we used to eat when I was growing up, the few that made their way to our kitchen mixed into other varieties of seafood were thrown away. It was only recently that Calamari became a regular restaurant item and squid was considered edible at my house. My mom really loves Calamari, so she was all excited to find fresh squid for sale. She batter fried some just like the fried calamari at the restaurants and made the rest into a thoran with grated coconut akin to the fish peera. I’ve never had squid like this before and personally I liked this version better than the fried preparation. So I thought I’d share it here and try to recreate it when I get back home.
Ingredients
- Squid – 1/2 kg
- Green Chilies – 3
- Ginger, thinly sliced – 1 tbsp
- Garlic, thinly sliced – 1 tsp
- Shredded Coconut – 1 cup
- Onions, thinly sliced – 1/2 cup
- Fish Tamarind (kudampuli) , washed and soaked – 1 piece
- Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
- Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch
- Salt to taste
- Curry Leaves - a few
For Seasoning
- Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds - 1/8 tsp
- Shallots, thinly sliced – 2 tbsp
- Curry Leaves - a few
- Dried Red Chili, cut into half – 1
- Oil – 1 tbsp
Method
Clean and cut the squid into rounds. Place all the ingredients other than the squid and the ones listed under seasoning in a large pan and press with your hands to slightly bruise the ingredients and release the flavor. Add the squid to this along with 1/4 cup water and mix well. Bring this to a boil, reduce the heat and cover and cook on medium heat for 6-7 minutes. If there is excess water in the pan after cooking, remove the lid and continue cooking till most of the liquid evaporates, don’t let it dry out too much.
In a different pan, heat oil and add the mustard and fenugreek seeds. When these start to splutter, add the shallots, chili and curry leaves. Add the cooked squid mixture to the pan when the shallot starts to brown. Cook on medium high heat, stirring frequently till all the liquid is gone.
This makes a great side dish to rice in a typical Kerala meal.
More like this..
Category: India - Kerala, Seafood
Whoa, someone’s having fun
I know how you feel, exactly about missing Siv
By homesick I thought you meant you didn’t wanna go back to Seattle..was confused for a bit there. Are you getting a lot of ‘I told you sos’?
I have done the same!!
hehehe
But this will give you a good dose of hometown for a bit so that you feel grounded in Seattle for a while. Have fun Sig!
I know the feeling, once went to India without hubby he joined us after 2 weeks, i cursed and cursed myself, like you said it wound’t be the last stupid things to do.
My mom made a knid of this dish but then in the way sometimes they cook it till it is rubbery, but then when i was home i loved it, it is after coming here i found out youshould not cook the squid so long
oh i know what you mean…i hated being at home for 1 month alone…more so cos i really didnt have anything to do other than eat and watch TV..none of my friends were around and really what more can you do in a place like Trivandrum
I’ve never missed anything from this home when I go to real home
These days, my trips there are shorter and shorter so it’s all the more dear. I also don’t expect anything much from there because it’s a smaller place and the life there is different. I don’t think I could have done much but teach if I’d continued to live there, though.
And whether at home or home, I keep thinking a life of leisure will suit me but I’ll probably go crazy without something to do – I think it’s being tied down (who’s tying us up/down and why are we willing to be tied up/down are questions to ponder) to a job that gets to most people…
Sig, of course we all knew Kerala was a seafood paradise. I am not a big squid fan either but your mom has magic in her hands. I would have eaten that without a squeak.
Strange is the life of immigrants!!
We have been together 10 years and we must have been apart for oh may be 12 days tops! I am all up for “alone vacation” if I can get one
Toran is a great idea for squids. So far I have only liked squids in calamari rings. Sure will try soon
Look at all that fresh seafood – someone is turning green! We make something like this, sans tamarind and coconut, with shark, called Sura Puttu. I know I’ll love this version with squid.
Look at it this way Sig, the reunion is going to be that much sweeter after this brief period you of being away from Siv.
I thought the same too that I will go alone to India for 2 weeks and enjoy myself. And after a week which went so slow it seemed, I was ready to cut my losses and fly back a week early but family and friends persuaded me stay on. I did and when I sat on the palne at midnight, I thought “YAY!! I will home” and never looked back. As much as I enjoyed India, I was glad to be “Home”. MY HOME!
Hang in there and enjoy, it’s almost over. It’s not easy to be without your mate with you but you will appreciate him more now and Seattle too. Hugs!:)
Home is where the heart is after all
Glad you are atleast enjoying the food, while you are pining away for Siv!
Though I loved our vacation in Australia this month, I was so glad to be home finally….I guess, we need our familiar comforts
The thoran is something I have seen in Pondicherry of all the places – SIL’s house and cooked like a Tamil porial. Very unusual and great tasting!
Hi Sig…
Great to read your wonderful blog… All this while I believed that I am one of the greatest foodie in the whole universe, never missing a chance to stuff my stomach.. but after reading your blog I feel pygmy… I must confess that this is one of the most exhaustive collection.
I also chanced to taste squid, only after my wife prepared it. It tasted just as u have described it. Though I had seen squid before but never had the courage to try it because of its looks. Also sea-food is a kind of rarity in the place where I live.
Thanks so very much for this site..I sometimes wonder how you get time to write so much…
BTW I was your junior at MACE, EEE Branch, 1994-1998 Batch…
Take care..