Thai Calamari Curry

I hate this name. It's not mine. Curry is a horrible name. It seems so degrading to me. Anything remotely spicy and Southeast Asian is considered curry. You show me the curry leaves in the recipe before I'll let you away with calling something a curry, and even then I have a problem with it. Unless it's called 'cari', or at least pronounced that way, in the original language, I get upset.

This recipe actually does have curry leaves in it, so I should probably hate it less. It's Thai, not Indian, like my latest recipe posts. Generally it's easier to find a Thai recipe for calamari than an Indian one, though you could definitely substitute squid in other Indian fish recipes. Sri Lankan squid recipes would be a nice bridge between the two culinary superstars.

Anyway, this was yet another attempt to save money while eating fish. Squid is so cheap and so easy to cook. You either cook it for no more than 2 minutes or you cook it for an hour. Anything in between will make it rubbery and gross. Seriously, 2 1/2 minutes and you're screwed.

Ingredients:
2 tsp oil
1 onion, diced
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped into small pieces (to remove the seeds, quarter the tomatoes and gently push out the seed mushy sections with your fingers. There are other ways to do this but this one is simple. Save the mushy stuff for a snack. There's nothing wrong with it. It just changes the texture of the dish and adds a bit more bitterness. Often you're supposed to remove the skin, too, but nothing is said about that here, so don't bother)
1 red chili pepper (or jalapeno. The flavour is different, but neither is bad)
1 tbsp ginger, grated (remove the skin from the ginger with a spoon and then grate the flesh into a bowl)
1 tbsp garlic, minced
3 curry leaves (or 1 tbsp curry powder). This is where my problem lies...curry powder is not a good replacement for the leaves. I doubt that the powder is actually powdered leaves since there are so many kinds of curry powders. Try a powder and see if you like it. It may or may not work.
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp lime zest, grated (just the green part. About 1 lime)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups fish or chicken stock (or 1 1/2 cups stock and a small 14 oz. can of coconut milk for creaminess)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, plus a little more for garnish
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lime juice (about 1/2 a lime)
1/2 tsp salt
2 lbs calamari (tubes and tentacles are both fine. That's generally what you get at a fish place. If you buy it frozen in a supermarket you may just get tubes. That's also fine. Just chop the pieces into 1" rings (width-wise) and try to make the tentacles into pieces approximately the same size (I know this is impossible, but I also know it's not too important since really there's nothing you can do about it)
The key is to have all your ingredients ready to go. So chop all the onion, ginger, garlic, and cilantro (the ginger and garlic can be put in the same bowl to wait) zest and juice the lime, and measure out the stock, brown sugar, black pepper, ground coriander, and salt. Then cut the calamari. If you cut the calamari first you'll need to wash your cutting board with hot, soapy water before cutting the vegetables. There's a bigger chance of contamination that way, so generally work with the seafood last, or even better, use two cutting boards. I have a plastic board and wood board in the kitchen and I always use the plastic board for fish, since the wood absorbs more of what's cut on it. It generally makes it more difficult to disinfect and leads more easily to kitchen contamination. Okay, lecture done.

Heat the oil in a big pot over medium heat. When it's hot add the onion, and sauté for 5 minutes. Please make sure the onion is actually softened. Bite a piece of onion. If it crunches it's not done. If the onion starts to stick to the pot add a tbsp of water and keep stirring. Do not walk away and get distracted. This is way too easy to do. Focus.

Add the tomato and the next 7 ingredients (up to the black pepper), and cook over medium heat for 4 minutes. Then add the stock (and optional coconut milk) and then the cilantro, brown sugar, lime juice and salt. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes.

So you've already cut the calamari into 1-inch pieces. Now add them to the pot, turn the heat up to medium, and cook for 2 minutes, or until the calamari is opaque. When you bite into one it should be tender, not tough. Now scoop some of the delicious squid and sauce onto some rice. It's too liquidy to serve with bread, like I tried to do. Garnish with some cilantro if you want. Keep in mind that the squid left in the pot will continue cooking in the sauce, so second helpings will probably be tough. Leftover calamari is sometimes okay, though, since sitting in the juices re-tenderizes the over-cooked flesh. If it is refrigerated NOT in a sauce, you're SOL.