Recipe- Delicious Coastal Squid Curry

You wouldn't find this at your local take-away! But we seem to forget that India is surrounded by water and is therefore a seafood haven. The local use of seafood in India is astounding and I love the attitude they have towards cooking fruits of the sea with spices. They are not scared about over-powering flavours or worried that spices won't work with seafood. They have a whole different outlook that makes for some amazing dishes.

Coastal Squid Curry Ingredients

Sauce

400g cleaned squid cut into rings
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves finely sliced
4cm fresh ginger grated
50ml tamarind paste or tamarind water
1 tsp jaggery or soft brown sugar
1 small tomato chopped
fresh coriander leaves chopped
2 fresh red chillies sliced
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp salt

Masala paste

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
4 garlic cloves
2 fresh red chillies
50g fresh coconut, grated or finely chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds

Coastal Squid Curry Method

Masala Paste

- Grind all the dry spices (cumin, coriander, fenugreek and mustard seeds) to a powder in a spice grinder or a pestle and mortar.

- Into a mini food processor add the garlic, chillies, coconut, about 50-60ml of water and the ground spices. Blend to a paste.

- Add the turmeric.

Sauce

- Heat the oil in a karahi over a medium heat and add the mustard seeds.

- Fry until they begin to pop, then stir in the onion and fry for five minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger and green chilli and fry for one minute.

- Add the masala paste, chilli powder and salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes (add a splash of water if required).

- Stir in the tamarind liquid and jaggery. Stir it through.

- Add the squid and chopped tomato then leave to simmer for a couple of minutes.

- The squid will cook very quickly, so ensure it stays tender.

- Remove from the heat, finish with some fresh green coriander and serve.