Squid with Sweet Spices, Basil and Tomato

This is an opportunity to make a very easy spice blend, perfect with all manner of seafood. The blend in this recipe makes enough for 1 to 2 dishes. Store the spice blend in an airtight jar away from natural light.

1 tsp Cayenne Chilli powder, organic
1 tbsp Ground Coriander, organic
1 tbsp Ground Cumin, organic
1 tbsp Sweet Paprika, organic
2 large squid, cleaned
2 cloves of garlic
4 tbsp olive oil
500g tomatoes
a pinch of saffron
2-3 tsp of spice mixture
juice of a lime
a large handful of whole basil leaves
1 tbsp parsley

To make the spice mix, stir together the cumin, coriander, paprika and chilli.
Slice open the body sacks of the squid and rinse thoroughly. Score each one with the point of a knife, diagonally at 1cm widths, then turn and do the same the other way, to give a lattice pattern. It will help the squid cook tenderly. Trim the tentacles of any exceptionally long bits.
Peel and crush the garlic. Warm it in a shallow pan with half of the olive oil. As soon as it starts to simmer and the garlic wafts appetizingly, drop in the squid and let it sizzle for a minute or two, no longer. Remove with a draining spoon and leave in a bowl.
Pour the remaining olive oil into the pan, chop the tomatoes and put them in with the saffron and the spice mix. Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, for a good 7-10 minutes until the tomatoes have relaxed. Stir in the lime juice, basil and parsley. Grind in a little salt and when all is bubbling return the squid to the pan. Cook very briefly then eat with crusty bread to mop up the rusty scarlet sauce from the plate.

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