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FRIED CALAMARI RECIPE

Deep-fried calamari appetizer with dipping sauce

Fried Calamari

Ingredients for 4 servings of calamari:

For the calamari:
14 oz. calamari (squid) tubes and tentacles
(size 10-20 or smaller),
1 cup all-purpose flour,
seasoning salt to taste (salt, sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, a pinch of ground cumin, etc.)
vegetable oil for deep-frying, as needed,
1 lemon cut to wedges,
Roasted red pepper dipping sauce:
1 roasted red pepper from a jar,
2 garlic cloves,
1 cup mayonnaise.

Recipe:

1. Clean and cut the calamari to approximately 1/2-inch rings.

2. Place the flour in a bowl and toss the calamari in it until they are covered.

3. Shake off the excess flour and fry the calamari in a deep-fryer at 350 F temperature of the oil, for about 1 1/2 minutes.

4. Remove the fried calamari from the fryer, and place them over tissue paper, in order to remove the extra oil.

5. Shake some seasoning salt on the calamari, and serve in a plate over some shredded lettuce and carrots.

6. If you don't have seasoning salt, you can make your own, by combining the ingredients from the description above.

I usually find that the store-bought seasoning salt doesn't have too much flavor, anyways.

For the dipping sauce:

7. Place the roasted red pepper, the mayonnaise and the garlic in a blender, and blend until smooth.

The calamari dipping sauce can be prepared well in advance, and can stay refrigerated for many days.

Chef George Krumov
About the author: George Krumov is a Red Seal certified chef with many years of culinary experience working around the world in Europe, the Middle East, the cruise line industry and North America. In the last two decades he has headed the kitchens of several restaurants in Canada, and ran his own restaurant.

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