Tempura Fried Calamari

It has always been a challenge for me to get crispy fried seafood, and I decided to raise the bar and try tempura fried calamari instead...hmmm...talk about being ambitious!!

Anyway, I did some research over the net, and found of some "tips" which I will share with all of you.


Tip 1: Ice
Use ice water for the batter. This is really important to prevent the batter from absorbing too much oil.
Tip 2: Batter
Preparing the batter ahead of time is not recommended. It's good to make the batter right before frying tempura. Try not to over mix the batter and not to coat ingredients with the batter too much..
Tip 3: Oil Temperature
To check the temperature of frying oil, drop a little bit of batter into the oil. If the batter comes up right away instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan, it's higher than 360 degrees F. If the batter goes halfway to the bottom and comes up, it's about 340-360 degrees F. This is said to be the right temperature to fry tempura.

I used 1 cup of ice-water to 1 cup of flour. I could only find corn flour and self raising flour in my kitchen, and seasoned it with a little salt, chilli powder and cumin seed. Break an egg into a bowl and mix it to the ice water and flour. Dip the seafood, here I used calamari, and fried it just before eating.

The verdict- Crispy, slightly spiced and light fried calamari...YUMMMMMMY!! And another genius idea, after you have switched off the fire, drop in some curry leaves and quick-fry them. Then sprinkle them over the nicely assembled calamari. This is not only pleasing to the eyes, bit adds on aroma and a spicy kick to the dish.

The photos are as below .............. Enjoy!!

 Try to make it as beautiful as it tasted...however, it was lip-smacking GOOD!!