Dry Crab Curry with Fresh Blue Crab

I am back with a delicious and enticing post for you all... Last week I just couldnt find any time for myself, to draft a post and share with you. I didnt make anything new at all last week and so I am posting about the Crab curry - JZ style that I made sometime back.

We have an oriental foods market in MN which is about half an hour or more drive from my home. The market is famous for its wide variety of fresh seafood and vegetables, many of which are also available in Kerala. So the Keralites in MN love to visit this particular shop and try their hands at all the veggies and seafood just like the ones available back at home. Since its really far from my home, we dont go there often, but we do when we can. Once when we went there, they had some fresh blue crab. When I say fresh, I mean frrrrrrrresh!! They were alive, moving around in the basket they were in. I saw a few people try hard with tongs to pick them up and put them in brown paper bags all the while thinking about the delicious stuff they are going to come up with!! But the crabs were fighting tooth and nail, with their claws, viciously attacking the tongs coming at them. I felt envious of the people buying them, I had never made anything with crab before! I didnt even know how to clean or cook the crab.

Anyways, I felt adventurous that day and I asked JM to buy me two of them. JM generously passed me the "honor" of getting the crabs into the bags. After a lot of wrestling around, I got two of them into the bag. All the while we were driving back home, I imagined them escaping the bag and crawling around in the trunk, ready to pinch me with their claws!! ;-)

But to my relief, they were still in the paper bag. After researching on the internet, I boiled them whole for a few minutes and then cleaned them. I cut them in half and proceeded to make a curry that I just thought up then and there. I made the crab curry in a traditional fish pot, the one made with clay, used for making fish curries. I should say that it was really delicious!! Believe me, it really was! It was amazing, with the flavors reminiscent of Kerala Fish Curry. I got good reviews from JM - a true seafood buff, so I am sure that it really was good. I loved it too, apart from the fact that I dont believe in working hard to get a small morsel of delicacies such as shrimp and crab!! ;-) Hopefully you would love this recipe. Try this out and share your results with me.

Recipe (Serves 2):

Blue crab - 2 nos (1 lb)
Green chilli (Serranos) - 1, sliced lengthwise
Onion - 1/2, chopped
Ginger - 1" piece, sliced thin
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Kudampuli (Camboge) - 1, cut into pieces

Method:

Clean and cook the crab for a few minutes with the shell on.

Cut the crab in half.

Saute the ginger, chillies and onion in oil in a saute pan or fish curry pot.

Add the red chilli powder and turmeric powder, saute well.

Toss in the crab halves.

Pour some water in, just enough to cover the crab partially.

Season with salt.

Close the pan with a lid and cook until the water is evaporated and the masala coats the crab.

Serve hot with rice.

Enjoy!!

Tips:

1. I still am not an expert in cleaning the crab, so check out the experiences from others on how to clean it.

Hope you enjoyed reading my post. Wishing you all a great day and an awesome week ahead!!

Crab Cakes with Lump Crab Meat

Crab cakes have always had a reputation of being a gourmet delicacy. I've never had these before, but have always wanted to make them because its said to be really delicious. I didnt taken on a particular recipe, but was inspired by quite a few and made a recipe on my own. The first time I made them, I used regular crab meat which was finely minced and so for seafood enthusiasts, there is no crab meat to bite into. Lump crab meat is a bit more expensive, but has big lumps which gives the flavor of the crab meat much better.

I am not a big seafood buff, but even I enjoyed these tender cakes. JM loved them, but wanted a little less sourness imparted by the lemon juice and mustard in it. The amounts mentioned are approximate, so please feel free to adapt the recipe to your tastes. I served the cakes with tartar sauce (dont know if mine would qualify as a traditional tartar sauce). Let me know how they turned out for you! Keep warm, and have a great day!!

Recipe (Makes 4-6 cakes):

Lump crab meat - 6 oz (1 can)
Dill chips - 5, chopped fine
Yellow mustard - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Lime juice - 1/2 tsp
Bread crumbs - 3 tbsp
Mayonnaise - 1 1/2 tbsp
Pickled jalapenos - 2, chopped fine

Method:

Transfer the crab meat into a bowl, feel through the meat and discard any shells.

Add all the other ingredients to the crab meat and mix together until everything comes together into a ball.

Shape into cutlets/cakes.

Heat a skillet.

Drizzle a bit of oil on the skillet.

Place the cakes gently on the skillet over medium flame.

Gently flip the crab cakes over when the first side is browned.

Brown the second side and flip the cakes over until the cakes are easier to handle.

Drizzle more oil as and if needed.

Serve hot with tartar sauce.

Tips:

1. The crab cakes are very delicate and be careful while flipping them over as they might break.
2. Keep the skillet over low-medium flame so that the crab cakes loose mositure and become easier to handle.
3. I made the tartar sauce with some mayonnaise, pepper powder, salt and chopped dill pickles and jalapeno pickles.
   

Santa's Holiday Challenge is still going on strong. Dont forget to send in your qualifying entries to jz.tastytreats@gmail.com on or before Dec 31, 2008.