We shell overcome. Look, there’s no neat and tidy way to eat a crab, okay. You get involved with both hands, run the risk of accidental stabbage (it’s a word), and it is not uncommon to see at least one elbow join the party. You work hard to get to the meat, and when you finally do, it is so totally worth it. Crab meat is delicate and immensely flavourful, and the stock that you get while cooking these crustaceans, simply takes curries to the next damn level. Flavours aside, I do love the quiet sense of camaraderie that descends over the table every time I cook crabs. Everyone doing their own thing, determinedly digging away in silence. Here’s the #recipe:
- Throw 3 large onions into a blender and make a paste
- In a clay pot, heat 2 tbsp oil & add 6 sliced cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1 tsp each of mustard & cumin & about 15 bruised black peppercorns. Add two sprigs of curry leaves and let everything sizzle for 1 min
- Add the onion paste, followed by 2 tbp Ginger Garlic paste & cook on high heat for 8 min.
- Throw in 1 tsp of Turmeric powder, 2 tsp of Red Chilli powder & 3 tsp of Coriander powder. Add a splash of water and cook the mixture till it’s fried well and you start seeing pockets of oil.
- Mix in 1 tbsp of tamarind paste, salt and three cups of water
- Bring the pot to a boil and slip in the crabs one by one. I recommend getting the crabs cut into two.
- Mix well, and see to it that all the crabs get dunked nicely in the curry. Make sure you have enough liquid in the pan. It’s no fun if the crabs are sticking out.
- After you’ve mixed the whole thing up, add 6 sprigs of curry leaves on top of the crabs. Leave the curry leaves on the stem so you can take them out later. Cover and cook for 30 min on low heat.
- Turn off the heat, let the curry rest for at least two hours.
- Eat carefully with rice. Try not to stab yourself in the face.