Get ready for a taste sensation that is like a party in your mouth! The calamari is crunchy, the sauce is spicy, and the citrusy notes from the lime juice and coriander leaves will make you dance with joy. This dish is so good, you’ll want to eat it all in one sitting. But be careful, it’s addictive!
See how simple it is to create this great-tasting dish below and don’t forget that you can always print it.
Alternatively, you can surf in my Facebook or Instagram pages to explore more mouthwatering recipes. I hope you enjoy it!
Salt and Pepper Calamari with Peri Peri Sauce
Servings: 3 People
Ingredients
- ½ Kg Medium size Calamari
- 125 g Peri Peri Sauce Medium , Nando’s
- 2 Limes Juice
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 1 heaped tbsp White Pepper Corns
- 1 heaped tbsp Coarse Sea Salt
- 100 g All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Head Garlic
- 1 tbsp Chili Flakes
- Handful Fresh Coriander , leaves picked
- 1 tbsp Dry Coriander , ground
- 2 Litres Seed Oil , like Rapeseed (Corn Oil will also do)
Instructions
- We start with the sauce by mixing the Peri Peri sauce with the lime juice and the honey. Keep aside.
- Add the peppercorns and the salt into a mortar and pestle into a coarse mixture. Add the flour into a flat bowl and combine with the salt and pepper mixture along with the dry coriander. Keep aside.
- Next is the garlic, where we use a large wok or frying pan and we pour in it the oil. Place on high heat and insert a thermometer aiming for 190°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the oil temperature by adding a small piece of bread to the oil. If the bread browns in about 30”, the oil is ready.
- Separate each clove from the head but we keep their paper skin, pound them gently, turn down the heat to medium-low and with a slotted spoon add the garlic into the oil. Stir every now and then aiming to brown the garlic and not to burn it. When nicely browned, about 5’ later, remove from the pot into a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil. Keep aside.
- We prepare the calamari by separating it from its tentacles. We cut the tentacles in half or in quarters depending on the size of the calamari. Then we take the calamari body and we open it out with the use of a sharp knife. With its outside skin on our board we take away the membrane from the inside and then we score in a criss-cross pattern the flesh of the calamari taking care not to cut all the way through. Once again depending on the size of the calamari, we cut in quarter squares or in half aiming for bite size pieces.
- Dredge the cut calamari into a bowl with the flour mixture and toss to get well coated.
- In the same wok/pan that we fried the garlic, we place it again on high heat aiming for 190°C. Then we add in batches the calamari and we gently stir and turn them so that they don’t stick between them.
- Cook for about 4’ until they curl, crisp up and nicely lightly browned. Remove from the wok/pan with the use of the same slotted spoon in a plate lined with kitchen paper to get rid of the excess oil. Leave them on the paper for few minutes, repeat the process for the rest of the calamari and then depending on their size cut them in half.
- Take a serving plate and add in it the fried garlic along with the coriander leaves that we roughly chopped. Toss gently and bring into that plate the cooked calamari and mix. Drizzle with the Peri Peri sauce, sprinkle the chili flakes and serve along with wedges of limes and the remaining Peri Peri sauce for dipping.
Video
We make the sauce by mixing the Peri Peri sauce with
the lime juice and
the honey.
Mix well.
Add the peppercorns and the salt into a mortar and pestle
and pound into a coarse mixture.
Add into a bowl with flour
along with the dry coriander,
and mix well.
Pound a garlic head
separate each clove from the head with their paper skin and pound them gently.
Add into a wok
and fry at low heat. Remove and keep aside.
Open the calamari body
and take away the membrane from the inside.
Score in a criss-cross pattern the flesh of the calamari.
Cut in bite size squares and dredge in the flour mixture.
Fry the calamari in batches,
Gently touch them and turn them on their other side, frying them for4′ and until they curl and crisp up.
Remove from the wok into a plate lined with kitchen paper.
add into a serving plate the fried garlic along with roughly chopped coriander and toss gently.
leaves that we roughly chopped. Toss gently and bring into that plate the cooked calamari and mix. Drizzle with the Peri Peri sauce, sprinkle the chili flakes and serve along with wedges of limes and the remaining Peri Peri sauce for dipping.
and mix.
Drizzle with the Peri Peri sauce,
sprinkle the chili flakes,
and serve along with wedges of limes.
