Squid is fried until crispy in a curry flour coating for the best calamari you may ever have.
By Ai Ping Sia
This is not just any fried calamari. 
It is fried calamari with curry.
One of my favorite things to eat at a seafood restaurant back in Malaysia has always been fried calamari. The squid is guaranteed fresh and delicious. But, the coating… not so much.
On the other hand, I love Mamak style fried calamari too. The coating is guaranteed flavorful. Umami to the max. But the squid.. not so much. So to get the best of both worlds, I had to DIY or rather DIM (do it myself) which explains how these curried fried calamari babies were born.
Thin crispy coating made from a special blend of curry flour mix enveloping delicious and tender squid inside.
See the recipe for the dipping sauce here.
PrintFried Calamari with Curry
- Yield: erves 3-4 as appetizer 1x
Description
Squid is fried until crispy in a curry flour coating for the best calamari you may ever have.
Ingredients
- 1 lb squid, cut into 1/2? rings
- 2 tbs fresh or dry curry leaves (optional)
Marinade
- 3/4 cups plain yogurt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Flour Mixture
- 1 cup cornstarch (or arrowroot powder)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbs fish curry powder
- 1 tbs meat curry powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chili powder (see note)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
Dipping Sauce
- Find the link to the recipe above.
Instructions
- Combine the yogurt and sugar and pour over the squid. Marinade for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the flour mixture.
- Drop the squid into the flour mixture and coat it. Shake off the excess flour and place the coated squid on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes. Let it rest. This is to bring the squid to room temperature before frying whilst at the same time allowing the squid to absorb the flour mixture.
- Over medium high heat, heat 3/4? of oil in a pan or a wok until 350 F (make sure there is enough oil to cover the squid when frying).
- Once the oil is almost ready, coat the squid once more with the flour mixture and shake off the excess flour.
- Gently add the squid to the hot oil. Fry for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Do this in batches. Make sure the oil is 350 F again before frying the next batch.
- Place fried calamari on paper towel for 1 minute to remove excess oil then transfer them to a wire rack set on a baking sheet (this is to help maintain the crispiness). To keep them warm while finishing the remaining batch, place the baking sheet with fried calamari in the oven at 200 F.
- Fry the curry leaves with the last batch of calamari. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
Notes
This chili powder is the one with chili but also a blend of other spices like cumin, oregano, coriander, garlic, allspice and clove. It’s not the ‘other’ chili powder where it only consist of ground dried chilies.
- Category: Appetizer, Side
