Stuffed Squids

Stuffed Squids

Ingredients

10 medium sized squids

4 large red onions

4 large tomatoes, chopped finely

6 flakes garlic

1 green chillie, deseeded

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp black pepper powder

½ tsp cumin powder

200 gms pack of strained tomatoes, or tomato puree

4 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 cup soya granules soaked (you can also substitute it with 1 cup of bulgur or 1 cup of cooked rice)

2 tbsp chopped walnuts or pine nuts

½ cup or more olive oil or canola oil

1 vegetable bouillon cube

2 tbsp cooking cream for garnishing (optional)

salt to taste

10 toothpicks for sealing the squids

Directions

Soak the soya granules in water for 15 minutes. When they have hydrated, squeeze the water out and keep aside. Clean squids or better still ask your fishmonger to do it. Take off the wings and tentacles and rinse them well. Clean the squid tubes and rinse them. Chop the tentacles and the wings finely. Chop the onions, green chillie and garlic finely (I did it in a food processor). Heat half the oil in a pan and sauté half the chopped onion garlic mixture until well browned. Add soya granules and continue to sauté. Add half of the cumin, pepper and red chilli powder and stir for a few seconds. Add the chopped squid tentacles, chopped nuts and half of the bouillon cube and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add half of the chopped tomatoes and sauté until the tomatoes melt and the squids are cooked and filling is a bit dry. Check seasoning and turn off the heat. Let the filling cool.

Stuff each squid with the filling leaving a bit of space enough to seal. Secure the opening of each squid with a toothpick. In a pan heat the remaining oil and add each squid to the pan. Fry on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Remove the fried squids and add the remaining onions and garlic mixture to the same pan and sauté till well browned. Add the remaining spices and bouillon cube and stir. Then add the remaining chopped tomatoes and sauté till tomatoes melt. Add tomato puree and salt to taste and stir. Add a cup of water, stir and return the squids to the pan. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Turn the squids over gently in the pan and simmer for another five minutes. The gravy should thicken a bit by now. Turn off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Remove the toothpicks gently and discard them. Transfer the squids to a serving dish and pour the gravy on top. Garnish with cream.