Middle Eastern spiced calamari with warm egg noodles and vegetable salad recipe

If youre not confident about cleaning and preparing the squid yourself, ask your fishmonger to help you. Youll need the tentacles, head and beak to be removed, and the tube split and scraped clean. Keep the tentacles for cooking with the body of the squid.

To make the spice paste, pound the cumin, coriander and peppercorns in a mortar. Heat the oil in a small frying pan and saut the garlic for a moment, just to soften it. Tip into the mortar with the ground spices, add the salt and pound to a smooth paste. Stir in the lemon zest and chopped thyme.

Prepare the vegetables and toss them in the LemonGarlic Dressing, while still warm.

Score the inside of the calamari in a criss-cross pattern, then rub them all over with the spice mix. Heat a griddle pan or barbecue as high as possible. Brush with oil and place the tentacles and calamari on the hottest part of the barbecue grill, scored side down. After 40 seconds, turn them over. In a moment, they will curl into a tight cylinder. Cook for a further minute, then remove from the heat.

While the calamari are cooking, bring a pan of salted water to the boil to cook the noodles until al dente it will only take a couple of minutes. Drain well, then stir through the butter and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Brush with olive oil.

To serve, divide the vegetables between 4 plates, arranging them in a circle around the plate. Top with pieces of calamari. Use a fork to twirl the noodles into little mounds and place in the centre of each plate. Drizzle with a little more dressing and serve while warm.

Recipe from Saha by Greg and Lucy Malouf, with photographs by Matt Harvey.

Published by Hardie Grant Books .