Tuna Thoran

I have been meaning to try this recipe for a long time. I had got the canned tuna and had been sitting in my store for so long. But since the expiry of these canned tuna is long I kept on procrastinating. Every time I procrastinate, it makes me think of one of our professors back in college. Every time someone would delay in submission of assignments or projects he would be like "What were you doing? Sitting on it and hatching eggs?" :P It used to be so hilarious but that atmosphere wouldn't be the right one to just laugh our lungs out right, because the professor might have been actually scolding someone. Anyways, this recipe has been pending for so long that I finally thought of trying it. And guess what, I always have canned tuna fish handy these days, in case I might want some non-veg side to prepare in just matter of minutes.

This recipe is from Nisha's blog. The very look of the picture on her blog made me tempt and wanted to try it. It is a slightly tweaked version of how my family likes it. Trust me you got to try it to enjoy what you have been missing.

Ingredients

1. 2 cans (8 oz) of canned tuna
2. 1 tsp of mustard seeds
3. 6 shallots sliced
4. 1 1/2 tsp of ginger garlic paste
5. 1 sprig of curry leaves
6. 2-3 dry red chillies
7. 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
8. 1/2 tsp of red chilly powder
9. 1 tsp of meat masala
10. 3/4 tsp of garam masala
11. 3/4 cup of grated coconut
12. Salt to taste
13. 2 tbsp of coconut oil

Method

• Drain out the excess water from the canned tuna and keep it aside.
• Heat the oil in a pan. Once hot, add the mustard seeds and wait for it to pop.
• Add the shallots, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, dry red chillies and salt. Saute it until the shallots turn golden brown and the ginger garlic paste looses its rawness.
• Add the ingredients 7-10 and stir it well. Add the drained canned tuna to it and give it a mix thoroughly for the masalas to get distributed evenly and for the tuna to get broken down into minced form. Cook it for about 5-6 minutes on medium heat, while you stir it occasionally.
•  Add the grated coconut and stir it well for the coconut to get distributed well. Cook for another 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat. Serve it warm with some rice and moru kachiyathu. Heaven ! I also use it in sandwiches.

Tips

1. I added ginger garlic paste, because it is always in stock at my home. You could use ginger and garlic separately, but chopped and crush it a bit before adding it to the stir fry or just grate it. This would bring out more flavors
2. Feel free to add green chillies or pepper powder if you would want a spicier option.