Squid Sukka | Mangalorean Bondas Sukka | Calamari Sukka

After the Beef Sukka, presenting you now from One Plate Please, the Squid Sukka – another of the famous Mangalorean Sukka preparation based dishes. The overall recipe always remains quite traditional, with tweaks made based on the hero ingredient being used, which in this case is Mangalore’s most loved Cephalopod, the Squid!

This time, during my visit to the local fish store, found a batch of fresh squids. I immediately knew this is what I want to cook. Picked up a few, exchanged pleasantries with the fishmonger and I was on my way home and straight into my kitchen.

How to make Squid Sukka

The first step in this recipe is to clean and prep the squids. Wash the squids thoroughly. Firmly hold the base of the head and the body tube in the other hand and gently twist and tug to extract the entrails and the quill (the transparent cartilage) from the body tube. Clean the inside of the body tube with a spoon and ensure there is no broken quill or any entrails remaining in it.

Using a sharp knife, cut off the tentacles just above the eyes and discard the head. Squeeze out the beak from the tentacles and discard it. Peeling off the membrane from the body of the squid, gives it a clean look but it isn’t a must. You can even tear off the wings from the body tube and slice them separately. Finally, slice the body into rings (or you can slit it and flatten it and cut it into squares too).

The next step in making the squid sukka is to dry roast the ingredients needed for the masala and then grinding them to a smooth paste. Freshly grated coconut is roasted along with turmeric until it turns aromatic. The masala is then cooked along with onions, tomatoes and few other ingredients and spices until the gravy/ stock reduces to half. At this stage, the roasted coconut is added to the pan and cooked until well combined and the stock has reduced.

Squid like any seafood takes very little time to cook and hence is added at the very end compared to any other hero ingredient/ protein used in a sukka based preparation. Squid is best enjoyed when it still has retained a bite to it. It doesn’t take more than 4 to 5 minutes to cook on a medium heat. If you miss this mark even slightly, it will turn rubbery. But, not all is lost!

The peculiarity of squid is that it is possible to reverse the rubberiness and regain the bite, the downside being having to cook it for about 30 minutes or longer. If you have to cook it for longer, ensure you add some water to prevent scorching. Enjoy Squid Sukka, alongside a hearty meal of parboiled rice and dal or enjoy it with some chapathi or panpoley/neerdosa.

Squid Sukka

Jason Alfred Castelino @ www.oneplateplease.com

Succulent Squid rings cooked in a masala spice blend and roasted coconut. A traditional Mangalorean dish.

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish, starter

Cuisine Indian, Mangalorean, South Indian

Servings 4 people

Equipment

• Frying Pan
• Pot, medium sized
• Tempering pan
• Knife
• Spoon (for cleaning the squid)

Ingredients

  

For the Ground-Masala:

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 2 Cloves
• 1 inch Cinnamon
• 5 Black pepper-corns
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• ½ tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Poppy seeds
• 3 Red Chillies, long, I used byadgi
• 1 Onion, medium, roughly chopped
• 2 Garlic flakes
• Tamarind, lime sized ball
• ¼ cup Water

For Roasting the Coconut:

• ½ cup Coconut freshly grated
• ¼ tsp. Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Ghee

For the Sukka:

• 1 tbsp Ghee (see notes)
• 2 Cloves
• 2 inch Cinnamon
• 2 Green Chillies, slit
• 1 inch Ginger, chopped fine
• 3 Garlic cloves, chopped fine
• 1 Onion, medium, thinly sliced
• 1 Tomato, medium, roughly chopped
• Salt as acquired
• ¼ cup Water
• ½ tbsp Vinegar
• 500 gms Squid, cleaned and cut as desired

For the Tempering:

• 1 tbsp Ghee
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• 2 Garlic flakes lightly crushed

Instructions

 

Dry-roasting the ingredients for the masala:

• Heat a pan and splutter the mustard seeds
• Add the cloves, cinnamon, pepper-corns, coriander, cumin, poppy seeds and the red chillies one by one and roast on medium flame until they turn aromatic. Ensure that you don’t burn the spices and the chillies

Making the Masala:

• Take the roasted ingredients out onto a plate and allow to cool
• Meanwhile, in the same pan, fry the onions till they turn translucent.
• Add the garlic flakes and fry for a minute
• Transfer to the plate with the spices and allow to cool
• Once cooled. grind all these ingredients along with the tamarind and water to a smooth paste
• Reserve the masala water from the mixer/grinder.

Roasting the Coconut:

• While the ingredients for the masala were cooling down, add the grated coconut to the same frying pan and roast it over medium heat until it turns aromatic
• Add the turmeric powder and mix well and take the pan off the flame

Making the Sukka:

• Heat ghee in a large enough pot and fry the cloves and cinnamon for a few seconds
• Add the green-chillies, garlic and ginger and fry for a minute
• Add the onions and fry until they turn translucent
• Add the tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes
• Add the ground-masala, mix well and fry until the raw smell vanishes
• Add salt and mix well
• Add the masala water from the mixer and the ¼ cup water and cook until the stock reduces to half.
• Add the roasted coconut and mix well
• Cook until the stock is completely reduced
• Add the squid, mix well and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes. The squid needs to be cooked enough to retain some bite and not turn rubbery
• Add the vinegar, mix well and check the salt and adjust if needed
• Turn off the flame and proceed to tempering

Tempering the Sukka:

• Heat the ghee in a small pan
• Add the crushed garlic cloves and fry for a few seconds
• Add the curry leaves and fry till they turn aromatic. Ensure not to burn them
• Add the tempering to the Squid sukka, Give it a quick stir and close the lid for the flavours to infuse. Serve hot!

Notes

• If the grated coconut is very coarse, pulse it in a mixie for a couple of times to get a semi-coarse texture
• Squid cooks very quickly and is enjoyed best when it retains a bit of bite and is not rubbery. If cooked beyond a few minutes, it will turn rubbery and then will need to be cooked for about 30 minutes for it to regain that bite.
• If you wish, you can garnish the squid-sukka with chopped coriander, just before serving
• Ghee is used as it imparts a rich-flavour to the dish. If you wish to use oil, although any vegetable oil would do, I suggest using coconut-oil as it heightens the flavour of the coconut, providing a homogeneous flavour profile.

Keyword bondas, bondas fish, Bondas Sukka, Calamari, Mangalorean Recipe, Mangalorean Sukka, Squid, Squid recipe, Squid Sukka

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