Let me confess...the only thing I know about crab is how to eat it..Have no idea about how to clean them nor cook them.The first time I experimented with Crabs (4 years back), I just cleaned the whole thing on the surface and put it in boiling water along with ginger,garlic and chilly..and just ate it..It was awful!! After that my hubby swore he wont by crabs at home. But then last week I asked him to get me some live blue crabs and since I am preg now he doesnt say no to anything ( he he, better take all advantage). so I decided to try my luck once again! Last year on our trip to florida, a friend of mine had shown me how to clean and cut crab. So I set of on my adventure with some vague memory of how to torture the crab to death. It was my hubby who helped to kill the live crabs.My poor hubby whose seafood is limited to shrimps and fishes , kept telling me that the only reason I am doing this is coz I love you!Ha ha ha..but he said the end result was mouthwatering!
I didnt know if it was the right way to clean the crab but I did it and I should say none of us got sick and the crab roast did come out perfect. Here is a link that I found that shows how to cut and clean a crab
I did detach all the claws and legs too... This is a little spicy u can reduce the spice according to ur taste..If u like the taste of pepper u can add that more else go with green chillies!
INGREDIENTS:
Blue Crab - 5( dont know how much they weighed)- Chilly powder - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1tbsp
Garlic pods(big) - 6 finely chopped- Ginger - 11/2 inch long finely chopped
- Large Onion – 11/2 ( thinly sliced)
- Pepper powder - 4tsp ( or just use green chillies)
- Garam masala - 2 pinch
- Tomato - 2 finley chopped
- Curry leaves - a handful
- Green chillies - 3
- Salt to taste
- Oil as needed.
METHOD:
I did the cooking in 2 parts. Firstly I cooked the crab and then I added this to the masala roast. This recipe is the result of combining 2 recipes one from my mother and the other from my dear Primna chechi.
- Cut and clean the crab well and keep aside.You can crack the crabs shell with the back of the knife so that the flavor gets into the meat, just one or two stikes.
- Grind together the Garlic, Ginger,green chillie and a few curry leaves.
- In a non stick pot over a medium flame add the cleaned crab and the ginger garlic paste and a pinch of turmeric and mix well. cover with a lid and let the crab cook till it turns to a red color.
- Give a few stir in between so that everything gets coated well and are cooked uniformly.
- Remove from flame when done.
- In another pan, add some oil and add the sliced onions and suate till very soft.
- Add the chillie powder, corriander powder, pepper powder, salt and garam masala.Mix.
- Add the cooked crab to this.
- Add a little water(1/4 cup) to the pan in which the crab was cooked and por this water into the onion masala( make sure u get al the ginger and garlic from the other pan).
- Add the chopped tomato and the curry leaves and cover and cook on a low flame till the tomato becomes very soft.
- Check for salt.
- Serve hot!!
Blue Crab
