Helena has arrived in Europe, and we followed a traditional reunion trip to Foxcroft with a reunion home cooked meal for the weary traveller. The unanimous choice with my co-host was South Indian Crab Curry, a dish that I had tried a few months back and had intermittently dreamt of since.
Fairly typical in East Asian cooking, I hadn't really experienced crab in Indian cooking before. (Not that I claim to be an officionado!)
Crab meat in a curry. Who'd-a thought it?
Everyone I mention this recipe to seemed a bit quizzical, but whilst white crab meat is fairly delicate, the brown crab meat is more, well... meaty- and substantial. Together, it has a really interesting thick consistency, and with the mass of spices, ends up a beautiful dish with really beautiful texture and depth of flavour.
As I mentioned, this is the second time I've cooked it, and it actually tasted better than I had remembered. Don't be daunted by the long list of ingredients (I often am!) as most of them are standard store cupboard spices. I find that curries are one dish whereby a long list of ingredients can hint at a really good finished product.
I've done the ingredients here for roughly 2-3 people.
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 green cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic
1 onion
1-2 red chillis, deseeded and finely sliced
1 tsp turmeric
butter
125g brown crab meat
200ml coconut milk
juice of a lemon
250g white crab meat
A generous bunch of fresh coriander
Roughly, (it's a curry, how much precision do you really need..?) you start by frying the chilli, ginger, garlic and onion in the spices. When they're sticky and softened, add the brown crab meat with some butter and cook for a minute. Then add the coconut milk and about half a glass or so of water.
Leave to simmer for a while so the flavours infuse then add the lemon juice and simmer til its the consistency of double cream.
At the end, stir in the white crab meat and half the coriander. Season and serve on a bed of white rice, then top with the rest of the coriander.
Totally lovely!
x
Fairly typical in East Asian cooking, I hadn't really experienced crab in Indian cooking before. (Not that I claim to be an officionado!)
Crab meat in a curry. Who'd-a thought it?
Everyone I mention this recipe to seemed a bit quizzical, but whilst white crab meat is fairly delicate, the brown crab meat is more, well... meaty- and substantial. Together, it has a really interesting thick consistency, and with the mass of spices, ends up a beautiful dish with really beautiful texture and depth of flavour.
As I mentioned, this is the second time I've cooked it, and it actually tasted better than I had remembered. Don't be daunted by the long list of ingredients (I often am!) as most of them are standard store cupboard spices. I find that curries are one dish whereby a long list of ingredients can hint at a really good finished product.
I've done the ingredients here for roughly 2-3 people.
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 green cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic
1 onion
1-2 red chillis, deseeded and finely sliced
1 tsp turmeric
butter
125g brown crab meat
200ml coconut milk
juice of a lemon
250g white crab meat
A generous bunch of fresh coriander
Roughly, (it's a curry, how much precision do you really need..?) you start by frying the chilli, ginger, garlic and onion in the spices. When they're sticky and softened, add the brown crab meat with some butter and cook for a minute. Then add the coconut milk and about half a glass or so of water.
Leave to simmer for a while so the flavours infuse then add the lemon juice and simmer til its the consistency of double cream.
At the end, stir in the white crab meat and half the coriander. Season and serve on a bed of white rice, then top with the rest of the coriander.
Totally lovely!
x
