[Squid/Calamari] Squid Chilly fry

Ingredients :
Shallots - 10 nos (for sauteing and paste)
Green Chillies - 4 or more depending on the heat you need.
Ginger - one stub
Garlic - 3-4 pods
Squid / Calamari - 1/4 kg
Chilli powder (preferably Everest Kashmiri Lal, as its only for color purposes, not heat)
Tumeric powder - 1 tbsp
Fennel - 1 tbsp
Oil - 3 to 4 tsp.
Salt to taste

Procedure :

• Clean Calamari multiple times, leaving out the fat which is strong in scent. In my recepie I have sliced it into thin strips. You can also cut the tentacles perpendicular to the length to make rings instead of strips. 
• Add the stub of ginger, garlic and shallots (about 7 nos) along with fennel in a blender and blend until you get a textural paste. Usually, the shallots have to be divided in 70-30 portion. 70 percent goes into making the paste.
• Heat the oil in a saute pan, when the oil is hot enough add the remaining shallots (chopped) along with it the green chillies and the paste and saute it.
• When the mixture is sauteed well, add 1 tbsp chilly powder, salt to taste, some water and toss until the chilly smell wears away. When the pungent chilly smell is gone, the mixture reaches a rich dollop-like consistency and its almost done now.
• Now add the squid strips and stir fry just for a matter of 2 minutes on high heat. (real stir fry!)
• After 2 minutes, the stove can be turned off but remember that the calamari still cooks on the residual heat. So, quickly change it to a serving bowl and garnish as you please!

Tips:

• With Calamari, its either quick cooking on high heat or slow cooking for 30 minutes on low heat, if not it will be extremely rubbery.
• You may wonder why Turmeric ;) As we are cooking the item for only a short period of time, we may worry about the quality of cook. Soaking the squid in Turmeric infused water, which is antiseptic, can shoo your worries away :)

This goes well with Jeera rice! Enjoy - and Bon Appetit!