After being sick with a nagging cold with loads of sneezing and sniffing, added on with cravings for something hot & spicy food. Ended up making the ultimate home remedy for bad colds ...Crabs.
Well, eating crabs is a messy business, crack the bone, suck out the yummy juice and relish the tender sweetmeat. I was lucky to get these fresh crabs today from our local online vendor who never disappoints. Remember to always use fresh crabs (preferably if you can find the ones with a blue shell). The larger the crab, the chewier the meat though. So don't be fooled by the weight
Without further adieu, here's the recipe for Crab Masala which we have been making the same way for ages at home using Grandma's recipe. This is a thick gravy, the juices from the broken crab are something that makes this thick masala gravy taste truly delicious.
INGREDIENTS:
Fresh water crabs - 4 (remember the smaller they are, the more tender and tastier the meat)
Coconut - 6 to 8 chunky pieces
Coriander leaves - 5 to 6 sprigs
Ginger - 2 inches
Garlic - 4 pods
Fried onion - 1 small, for masala
Chopped onion - 1 medium
Finely chopped tomato - 2 large
Kashmiri Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - as per taste
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1tsp
1/2 cup - Coconut milk (first extract)
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking
PROCEDURE
1. Grind the masala ingredients to a fine paste using little water - Fried onion, coconut, ginger, garlic & coriander leaves.
2. In a Kadai/wok, heat some oil and saute the onion till translucent.
3. Then add the crabs and stir well to coat the pieces, cook on low flame for 3-4mins.
4. Start adding your dry spice powders - turmeric, coriander, red chilli, Kashmiri chilli and salt to taste. Stir in all the spices to ensure that the crab is coated with them. Cook for another 4mins until the raw smell of the spices disappears.
5. Next, add the chopped tomato, stir them into the crab mixture. Add 1/2cup of water and not much, since crab cooks in its own water as well.
6. Cover with a lid and cook on simmered flame for 5-6 mins, until the water from the meat is oozing out.
7. Remove the lid once the water from the meat has oozed out and check for the spice levels, adjust according to taste.
8. Pour in the ground masala, coconut milk and cook on low flame with a closed lid for another 15-20 mins. You may continue cooking to adjust the consistency of the gravy as desired.
Serve hot with plain rice or Rotis.
