Njandu Curry / Crab Roast Curry

Most Non vegetarian’s favourite is the crab curry. It’s loved by most of the people around the world and it is one among the best sea food as well. The making is easy but to bring the good taste is a hard task and about the cleaning part yes I know, it’s a tedious process. In India it’s hard to find large crabs however here in California I saw the crabs are really huge with huge claw.

 

It is called as Dungeness crab and it is served often with salads, cioppino, or simply cracked on the plate, accompanied by drawn butter and crusty sourdough bread. And I was shocked and confused before when we visited a restaurant and we were served with a hammer and a scissor to eat the crabs lol :) and after we saw the crab size then could able to make out why would we need those cutleries :) 

Ingredients: 

• Crab- 1 Large or if using small – 3-4 Nos
• Onion- few
• Tomato-1 Large
• Tamarind Extract - half Cup- or Kudampuli- 2 or 3 pods
• Pepper powder- 1 Tspn
• Turmeric Powder- ½ Tspn
• Coriander Powder-1 Tspn
• Garam Masala- 2 Tspn
• Coriander Leaves-few

To Temper:

• Curry Leaves-few
• Oil- 2 Tspn
• Dry Red chillies- 2 Nos
• Cumin seeds-1/2 Tspn
• Fenugreek seeds-1/2 Tspn

To Grind as coarse paste (Crushed):

• Green Chilies- 3 Nos
• Garlic-3-4
• Ginger- a small piece
• Small onion- 3 Nos

To roast and grind as fine paste:

• Grated Coconut -1/2 cup
• Small onions- 4
• Coriander Powder-1 Tspn
• Chili Powder - 1 ½ Tspn
• Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp
• Fennel seeds - 1/2 Tspn
• Pepper Powder- 1 Tspn
• Curry Leaves - 10 Leaves
• Oil – 2 Tspn

 

Method:

1. In a pan,pour oil and roast all the ingredients,set it cool and grind it to a fine paste and keep aside.
2. In a separate pan, add the items under “To temper” and after mustard splits up add the onion and tomato and sort until it becomes translucent.
3. Add all spice powders now I,e chili,pepper,turmeric and coriander powder and sort again for another 5 minutes.
4. Add all the items under “To grind as coarse paste (crushed) and sort again for 2 mins, and add garam masala into it.
5. Now add the cleaned crab into this and sort again for about 5 minutes and cook it covered for about 5 mins.
6. Now, add the roasted and ground coconut paste and tamarind extract into this and let the curry boils for about 5-10 minutes or until the curry gets thickened.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Tips:

"You can also replace with pepper seeds instead of using the pepper powder.

Clean the crab completely with turmeric powder before using it to remove the dirt if any."