Ingredients

Method

• Olive oil for frying
• 2 T turmeric
• 2 T home-made masala
• 650 g chokka or calamari steak, cut into strips
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 1 x 10 cm fresh ginger piece, sliced
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 brown bread thick slice
• 1 fresh coriander bunch
• 400 g lentils, cooked
• 1 apricot jam
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 3 large free-range eggs

Method

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add 1/2 T turmeric and 1 T masala and briefly cook until fragrant. Add the calamari strips and fry for approximately 3 minutes, or until just cooked. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.

Once cool, blend the cooked calamari, onion, fennel, ginger, garlic, bread and coriander in a food processor or manual meat mincer.

Fry the minced calamari mixture in a little olive oil, and add 1/2 T turmeric and the remaining masala as you go. Add the lentils, apricot jam and balsamic vinegar and cook through. Taste for sweet-sour balance and adjust seasoning accordingly.

Spoon into a lightly greased ovenproof dish. Beat the buttermilk, eggs and the remaining turmeric together and gently pour over the calamari. Bake for 30 minutes, or until set and lightly golden.

TASTE’s take:
Serve this modern take on an old classic with soft butternut, flash-fried mangetout, full-cream yoghurt, tomato chutney and banana-and-coconut sambal. Finish with hijiki (seaweed) and sea lettuce.