Crab Curry in garam masala and coconut cream
Updated: Aug 5, 2020
A personal favourite! I just love crab curry. This recipe makes a delicious, satisfying curry. Crab is cooked in wonderfully fragrant spices, tomatoes, and coconut cream. The curry is garnished with fresh coriander and served on a bed of basmati rice. A simply amazing way to enjoy local Blue Swimmers of Australia or mud crabs of Fiji.
Crab curry brings up a lot of childhood memories. While fresh crabs were sold at the markets, most locals would sell their fresh and alive catch along the main highways. We would simply stop and d buy them from locals as we drove by. Most fresh vegetables would also be easily accessible from makeshift markets along the main highways in Fiji. Enjoy this dish. A lovely way to celebrate local seafood.
Ingredients:
4 medium-sized crabs (blue swimmers). You can ask the fishmonger to clean and cut in half.
1 can tomatoes
1/2 cup coconut cream
2cm cube tamarind, soaked in 1/4 cup water
2 tbsp oil (Rice Bran/ coconut oil)
1 brown onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 cm piece of ginger, crushed
11/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp garam masala
3 green chillies or to taste
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 stalk curry leaves
4 cups water or enough to cover the crabs
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium to a large stockpot.
2. Once the oil has heated, add the mustard seeds, cumin and curry leaves. Fry for approx. 1 minute.
3. In a small bowl, combine the chillie, garlic, ginger, turmeric and garam masala and make a slurry in 1/4 cup water. Add this mixture and fry over low heat until the oil starts to separate.
4. Add the can of tomato.
5. Strain the tamarind juice into the pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until bubbling and thick. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
9. Add in the crabs and season with salt. Stir to combine it well with the spice and tomato mixture.
10. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring every so often to ensure the mixture is not catching at the bottom. Add a little amount of water at a time if required. Cook, stirring frequently until the crab turns a bright red colour. This step will take approximately 10 minutes.
11. To make the gravy, add approximately 1 liter of hot water(or enough to just cover the crabs in the pot) and the coconut cream.
12. Bring to boil and simmer for approximately 20 minutes on low heat. The flavors in the gravy will develop as it simmers. Grind in fresh pepper and 2 fresh green chillies sliced lengthwise. Taste the gravy and ensure you are happy with the seasoning. Adjust as required.
13. Turn the flame off. Add in 1/2 cup of fresh-picked coriander leaves.
14. Serve the curry with plain rice or with roti. Enjoy!!
Tips:
Ask your fishmonger to give you the crab shells as well. These may contain the crab eggs which you can add in with the crabs. These add to the flavour and help thicken the gravy.
You can increase the amount of spice in the curry by adding more garam masala and chillies to suit your taste.
In my home, the crab gravy is most popular the following day for breakfast. It is lovely when eaten with bread.
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