Munch chowmein at 4pm, take a swim at 11 pm, rise and shine at 11am …..that’s my idea of a dream vacation.
We had this dream vacation only once, and that was in Washington DC, during a much earned break when all we did was to sleep in, swim in the warm chlorine dumped hotel pool, watch bad movies, get rooms service, and scarf eat. We didn’t do much sightseeing, and almost no shopping. Ten days of pure bliss, of basically doing nothing. (OK, alternate days, as one of us had to wake up early to take our German, just a pup back then and still small enough to be allowed to stay in our room, out for his morning sojourns. The darned animal still cannot read a calendar.)
We crammed tasted a variety of food on that trip. Food had become a focus, so we were trying a lot of new cool stuff. Fried calamari was one of them. I had just started, gingerly, to try out seafood other than shrimps or prawns. I managed to eat scallops without feeling squeamish, but drew a line at Octopus. Calamari was new. Squid had not entered my food palate yet. One dish of fried calamari changed all that.
Now I love making it at home. The fact that it cooks fast and is ready to eat in minutes means it’s on the menu more often than it should be. But once in a while food should not be weighed, but simply devoured. I have researched a lot of ways to make it, but I like this method the best. Also I like my coating to taste like something other than just floury. If you don’t want to make it spicy, simply skip the peppers and make it with simple flour and salt.
- 1 lbs calamari
- 4 heaped tablespoons APF
- 4 heaped tablespoons of Corn flour
- 1 tbsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- Sprinkling of fresh cracked black pepper
- Oil for deep frying
- 1 lemon quartered
- Slice off the tentacles and separate the rings. If frozen, thaw under running cold water. Pat dry with kitchen towel. They should be dry, but not bone dry, else the flour will not stick.
- In a bowl, combine all the ingredients (except oil and calamari).
- Toss the calamari in the flour mix until well coated.
- Heat oil until almost smoking, and fry the calamari for about 2 minutes till nice and golden. Don't fry it too long else the calamari will be too tough.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
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