Octopus salad - salade ourite

Octopus salad - salade ourite

Ingredients:
1 kg octopus,
Juice of half a lemon,
4 tablespoons oil,
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley (optional),
2 small onions finely sliced
2 finely chopped green chillies.

Preparation:
Clean the octopus and carefully remove the ink sac. Rub with white flour to thoroughly clean the octopus and wash in running water.
Heat up a deep thick bottom saucepan over high heat. When the saucepan becomes very hot, using a pair of tongs lower the octopus into the saucepan. Allow the octopus to contract, lift it out of the pan and lower again. Do this three to four times. The contraction of the octopus will break the muscle tissues within and tenderise the octopus. Add the ground black pepper and ground cloves. Leave the octopus in the pan and move around occasionally to prevent burning. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes and allow to simmer until the octopus is thoroughly cooked to a pink colour and tender, with the juice almost all evaporated. Retain the remaining juice for later use. Do not overcook. Overcooking will toughen the octopus.
Drain well, allow to cool and cut into small bite size pieces.
Mix together lemon juice, oil and some salt and pepper.
Add parsley if used, onions, chillies and octopus pieces to mixture. Mix thoroughly.
Serve cold with bread.