Fried squids
Fried calamari in Greece is a popular dish for secular people, especially during Lent, but it is also strongly associated with the Greek summer. Of course, they could not be missing from the monks recipes, since they are food rich in proteins, which are essential for the body of the monks who never eat meat. In the kitchen of Mount Athos, squids are cooked in many ways, but the easiest and fastest way is to fry them. Check out this monastic recipe that smells of the sea below and make crispy-crusted squid rings. The garlic dip is an ideal side dish for this monastic dish.
We clean the squid well, removing the mouth, eyes and skins.
Then, we rinse them well and if they are large, cut them into slices.
We mix the squids with enough baking soda and leave them for an hour. If the squids are frozen, then leave them in the soda overnight in the refrigerator.
We rinse the squid with warm water and leave them in a colander to drain well.
Then, we dry them very well with absorbent kitchen paper, because if they retain moisture, the oil will splatter during frying.
We flour the squid very well and drop them little by little in hot oil to fry.
As soon as the squids turn yellow, they are ready and we remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon.
We leave them for a while in a container with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
We serve the squids on a plate and at the end we add some salt and lemon.
We remove the squids from the pan as soon as they turn yellow and don't let them turn red because they will harden.
We put the lemon right before we eat them because if we put them earlier they will become soft.
The hot oil should completely cover the squid in the pan.
