Kanava(Squid) Thoran

Kanava Thoran (Squid Stir-Fry) is a popular Kerala dish made with tender squid cooked with spices, grated coconut, and curry leaves. It’s a flavorful, spicy, and aromatic dish that pairs well with rice. Here’s a simple recipe for making Kanava Thoran:

Ingredients

• Squid (Kanava) – 500g, cleaned and cut into rings or bite-sized pieces
• Coconut: 1/2 coconut
• Onion: 1 big size or 2 small (chopped) or you can use shallots
• Ginger: 1 small piece (to make 1 tbs paste)
• Garlic  cloves: 5-6 nos
• Red chili powder – 2 tbs
• Pepper powder – 1/4 tbs
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tbs
• Coriander powder – 1/2 tbs
• Mustard – 1/2 tbs
• Dried Red chilies – 2 nos
• Curry leaves: 2 stems
• Salt

Properly clean the Squids before cooking and cut into ring/square size shape. Cook Squid in pressure cooker or you can cook along with roasting onion. Easy way is cooking in pressure cooker Add half of turmeric, Red chili powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste, black pepper power and mix it well. Cook until 5-6 whistles. Sometimes Squid need more time to cook .

Coconut Paste:

1. In a pan, roast red chili powder and coriander powder for 2-3 minutes until the raw taste disappears. Remove from heat.
2. In a mixer, crush the coconut with ginger, garlic, turmeric powder, and the roasted chili and coriander powders. There’s no need to make a smooth paste; aim for a coarse mixture.

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Making Thoran:

1. Heat 4-5 tablespoons of oil in a pan.
2. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then, add dried red chilies and curry leaves.
3. Add slit green chilies and chopped onions. Sauté well.
4. Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt and continue stirring .
5. Once the onions start changing color, add ginger-garlic paste and give a good stir.
6. Add cooked squid into the roasted onion.
7. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.
8. After 10 minutes, open the lid and give it a good stir.
9. dry this well, remove extra water if any.
10. Add the coconut mixture to the pan and sauté everything together.
11. Cover the pan again with a lid and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

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Squid/Kanava thoran ready to serve.