OK so ever since I made those beef cutlets with a coconut crust, I have been thinking of using that technique to make other crispy coatings! I got my chance to try it again when hubby picked up squid last weekend while picking up seafood.
I usually cook squid(calamari) Kerala Style which is to sauté it with onion and red chillies and with coconut. I have posted that recipe before. Have also tried frying it using chickpea batter which is a great gluten free alternative. However now since I am on a paleo diet, chickpea batter wouldn’t do and so I thought why not give my tapioca flour batter and coconut crust technique a try? The ‘paleo version’ of the beef cutlets was very well received in my house. It tasted even better than the breaded version!
So considering that I was pretty confident that the fried calamari with coconut crust would work. And I wasn’t disappointed! The fried coconut calamari came out so nice and crispy plus the shredded coconut topping imparted such great flavor. I also ended up shallow frying it using coconut oil vs deep frying. It still came out nice and crispy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. Perfecto 🙂
I added a bit of cayenne pepper (Kashmiri red chili powder) but you can skip that for an AIP compliant recipe.
- ½ lb squid, cleaned and cut into ¼ inch rounds
- ¼ tsp kashmiri chilli powder (skip for AIP version)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 3 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut (I used 'Let's do Organic' brand)
- About 2 tbsp coconut oil
- In a small bowl, add the cleaned calamari and dab dry with paper towels. Add the chills powder(if adding) and salt and mix well. Keep aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix the tapioca flour with water to from a slurry. (This settles down very fast so again stir before using)
- Place the shredded coconut in a separate plate.
- Heat a small frying pan and add 1 tbsp coconut oil. Keep on medium heat and when hot, dip the squid pieces one by one in the tapioca slurry and then dip them in the coconut to coat completely and drop these one by one into the frying pan. Fry these in batches and serve hot!
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