If you need help on how to clean calamari see this tutorial. I always buy calamari that is already cleaned. Slice the calamari bodies into rings (unless you purchased pre-sliced).
Soak the calamari in a bowl with enough water to cover it, and add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Stir well and let soak for about 15 minutes.
After soaking, drain the calamari (a colander helps here) and then rinse several times with water and drain well.
Pat the calamari as dry as possible with tea towels or papers towels. This will help the calamari crisp up when fried.
Coat the calamari lightly with flour (I used semolina this time but often use all purpose flour, sometimes mixed with cornstarch [2:1 ratio]). A light coating ensures you taste calamari not fried breadcrumbs/coating.
To coat the calamari, I like to place the flour into a plastic or paper bag and then add a handful of the calamari and shake it up. Coat the calamari in small batches and place on plate and then fry when it's all coated.
Fry the calamari in small batches. If you fry too much at once, the oil temperature will drop too much and the result will be soggy and greasy calamari.
Fry until lightly golden but not more than 2 minutes to keep calamari tender.
Place fried calamari on paper-towel lined dish.
Season to taste with salt and pepper while hot.
Serve immediately after frying. I like to serve with lemon wedges or marinara sauce.