LIVINGLIVING
Deep fried calamari with garlic and lemon mayonnaise (serves
6-8 as a snack), by Jo Pratt, for the BBC food pages
Ingredients
• vegetable oil, for deep frying
• 250g/9oz plain flour
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp smoked Spanish paprika
(many supermarkets and delis sell
smoked Spanish paprika. If you can't
get hold of any, use the traditional
paprika instead)
• ½ tsp salt
• 500g/1lb 2oz squid, cut into
5mm/¼in rings
• 2 eggs, beaten
For the mayonnaise
• 200ml/7fl oz mayonnaise
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• ½ lemon, juice only
MAKING CARBS COUNT
Method
For the mayonnaise, mix all the
ingredients together and set aside.
For the calamari, place enough oil in a
wok, large saucepan or deep-fat fryer to
come halfway up the pan. Place over a
medium heat. If you're using a deep-fat
fryer or have a thermometer, heat the
oil to 180C/350F. If not, to check the
oil is at the right temperature, drop a
2-3cm/¾-1¼in cube of bread into the
hot oil. It should become golden and
crispy in 1 minute.
While the oil is heating, place the flour,
cayenne, paprika and salt in a large
sandwich bag. Drop in the squid and
shake around to coat evenly. This
may need to be done in two batches,
depending on the size of the bag.
Dip the floured squid into the beaten egg
and then carefully drop into the hot oil.
Fry for 2-3 minutes until golden. Remove
from the oil and briefly drain on kitchen
paper before serving with the garlic and
lemon mayonnaise.