TUMERIC SQUID RINGS

I needed to show you this pretty bowl that had a tiny almost invisible chip at its edge, was a beautiful baby blue and was as smooth and round as baby's bottom, that I had bought yesterday at a ridiculous price.

So I just couldn't wait to take a picture of it. But what good would a pretty bowl be without anything in it? Like a pretty dress without a pretty person or a divine painting without its gilded frame or a marriage without love.


And that's where these tumeric squids come in. Golden rings of fresh succulent squids, quickly fried and tossed with caramelized onion rings, seasoned with salt and pepper and with a sharp tangy squirt of lime or lemon juice at the end. Fried, tossed and piled in a deliciously pretty bowl.

Frying squids is quick and easy and as long as you towel dry the squids to rid them of excess moisture before frying them it's not at all messy to prepare. Unfortunately I had found this out the very hard way after years of popping, spluttering and getting oil spots and tumeric stains and ruining some cute t-shirts for a good part of my life.


However, whenever I think squids it is always tumeric squids that come to mind. It has that earthiness of the tumeric and the juiciness of tenderly cooked rings of squids entangled with soft floppy loops of white onion and studded with pieces of crimson chillies.

It is a dish that can be spicy if you like it that way, by simply adding some chopped bird chillies or it could almost be a salad of sorts by just tossing it with those onion rings, some chopped large red chillies and the refreshing lime or lemon juice and of course salt and pepper. It's all up to you really.

So here's the recipe.........................

2 medium sized squids, skinned and cut into rings and towel dried
1 large white/brown onion, sliced into rings
1 tsp tumeric powder
salt pepper
1/2 lemon or 2 limes
cooking oil

Sprinkle the tumeric powder and some salt over the raw squid rings and toss with spoon to get the squids covered evenly with the seasonings. Heat up a pan or wok add 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil till hot. Fry the squids in two or three batches until it turns white but is still tender and juicy. Never overcook squids or they'll be as tough rubber bands. Drain and keep aside.

Pour off excess oil leaving behind 1 tablespoon in the wok. Fry the onion rings till soft and caramelized at the edges, add the chopped large red chillies/bird chillies and stir to mix. Add the fried squid rings, stir to mix just for a few seconds and turn off the heat.Squirt in the lemon or lime juice, add more salt if necessary and a twist of pepper. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley. Serve with white rice.