Crispy deep-fried squid served with an appetizing Greek yogurt-mayo-garlic dip. This recipe will show you how to fry tender squid with an extra crunchy flour crust!
Fried squid or Kalamarakia Tiganita (in Greek) is one of the most delicious seafood dishes. Especially when paired with some Ouzo, sea view, and summer sea breeze.
Table Of Contents
It's a pretty simple-to-make dish where you dip the squid in flour and then deep-fry it!
Squid Or Calamari?
These two are almost the same and can be used interchangeably in this recipe. With squid being slightly tougher. But don't get discouraged by this, if you follow my tips for cooking tender squid as mentioned below, you can cook both types nice and tender!
Fresh Or Frozen?
Fresh Squid or Calamari will be slightly tougher and firmer than frozen ones. Freezing is one way to tenderize squid, so if you're using fresh squid, be sure to use any of the methods mentioned below to tenderize it.
Whole Squid Or Cleaned Squid?
It's better to buy whole squid (fresh or frozen) and clean it yourself rather than cleaned and cut frozen squid. There's a big difference in flavor.
Marinating
In Greece, the only thing we use to marinate fried squid or Calamari is salt! On rare occasions, some garlic powder might be used. But we don't really add much to coat the flavor of the squid!
Tenderizing Squid
- Using Salt. To tenderize squid, season it with salt and marinate for a couple of hours. For this recipe, I use a light salt and water brine to soak the cleaned squid for up to one hour at room temperature. This helps to quickly season it and soften it.
- By Freezing + Refrigerating. Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish all benefit from spending some time in the refrigerator or the freezer. Both help to tenderize their meat. You can keep cleaned squid in a strainer covered with plastic wrap on top and a bowl underneath for up to 2-3 days in the fridge, it will be much more tender when you cook it. Or keep it in the freezer for 1-2 weeks or up to 4-5 months.
- Cooking It Lightly. The rule of thumb for cooking squid is to cook it either for 2 minutes or for 20 minutes. This means that it requires a high heat, swift cooking method like deep-frying, or low and slow cooking like grilling and stewing.
- Avoid Sudden Swifts Of Temperature. For example, don't take cold squid from the fridge and dip it into the hot oil. It will make its meat tough. Let it come close to room temperature first. Moreover, don't add too many pieces of squid in the hot oil all at once. The temperature will drop, and you won't be able to cook it swiftly.
- Size matters! And of course, the smaller the squid, the more tender it is. However, larger squid is more meaty. I always go for medium size when it comes to frying it.
How To Make
To make fried Calamari, first prepare a 30% salt and water brine (30 grams of salt to 1 liter of water). Soak the squid for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
Next, take handfuls of the Calamari and toss and mix them in a bowl with plenty of flour. Some people add some cornstarch to the flour for extra crispness, but there is no need. If there's enough water (from the brine) on the squid, it will make the flour stick to it and form a thin layer like batter. Allow the squid to stand in the flour for 10 minutes until you heat the oil.
Then toss and mix the squid in the flour to coat it a bit more with flour, and dip it piece by piece in the hot oil. Deep-fry in batches, without adding too many pieces in at once. Finally, drain on paper towels and serve warm.
Serve With
I like to serve this Fried Calamari with a light and fresh yogurt mayo dip with garlic (recipe below). For a Greek-themed feast, serve fried Calamari with a Greek Salad, Greek Fries, and Tzatziki!
Recipe
Fried Squid (Calamari)
Ingredients
For The Fried Squid:
- 650 grams (1.4 pounds) squid it's about 500 grams (1.1 pounds) cleaned squid
- 1 liter water at room temperature/ slightly lukewarm
- 30 grams (3 loaded tablespoons) fine sea salt
- all-purpose flour
- frying oil I use sunflower oil
- lemon cut into quarters to serve with
For The Yogurt Dip:
- 200 grams (¾ cup) Greek yogurt
- 100 grams (½ cup) mayonaisse
- 2 garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 1 tablespoon dill finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt + pepper
Instructions
Make The Yogurt Dip:
- Mix all of the ingredients for the yogurt dip in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
Prepare The Squid:
- Clean the Squid. Pull the head to separate from the body, cut the head right where the legs begin, and remove the teeth from the center of the legs. Remove the skin from the body, peeling it with your fingers. Remove everything from inside the body. Rinse well.
- Cut the squid into 2cm (¾-inch) thick ring slices. The bottom piece cut it open in half.
- Pour 1 liter of water (room temperature or close to lukewarm) into a mixing bowl.
- Add the sea salt and whisk to dissolve.
- Brine. Dip the squid and soak at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Add plenty of flour to a bowl. Take handfuls of the squid and toss them in the flour. Mix and shake the bowl to coat the squid with flour. Sit for 10 minutes while you heat the oil.
Fry The Squid:
- Heat oil in a small to medium-sized cooking pot. I used a 3-liter cooking pot. The oil should be at least 5 cm (2 inches) deep. See notes below.
- Wait until the oil reaches 175°C / 347°F before adding the squid. It's going to be sizzling hot but not smoky hot. You may test by adding a drop of flour into the hot oil.
- Stir squid in flour again, making sure it's well coated and each piece separated from the other.
- Dip 8-10 pieces of squid into the hot oil one at a time. Wait 3-4 seconds before adding the next piece so the temperature won't drop suddenly.
- Fry for 2-3 minutes if you are cooking small to medium-sized squid or for 3-4 minutes if cooking medium to large squid.
- Remove the squid with a slotted spoon. See notes below.
- Drain on paper towels and proceed with cooking the next batch.
- Serve with pieces of lemon to squeeze on top and the yogurt dip on the side.
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