Bengali Crab Curry Recipe

Origin: India      Period: Traditional

This is a classic Bengali curry that takes quite a while to prepare  but it's well worthwhile!

Ingredients

2 large raw crabs (any kind, about 900g each)
4 large onions,
8 garlic cloves
40g ginger
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped (optional)
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
150g butter
3 tbsp oil
2 tsp powdered cumin seeds (jeera)
1 heaped tsp red chilli powder (or more if you like your curry hot)
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp Garam Masala

Bengali Crab Curry Preparation:

Method:

If you've never cleaned a crab before, then the here's the basic procedure: Place the crab on it's back in front of you then pull off the legs and claws and set aside. The pale triangle at the back of the shell on the base is called the 'apron'. You should lift this up with a sharp knife before removing it completely, along with any external organs. Now prise the hard top shell and discard.

Beneath the shell you will see the gills (commonly known as 'dead man's fingers' and you should remove these along with any internal organs and the mouthparts. The contents of the body are now all edible and consist of meat and fat (sometimes referred to as 'mustard'). Break the remaining pieces of shell open and extract the meat from all the chambers. You can also break open the claws and legs to remove the meat (or you can leave these whole for your guests to pick the meat out themselves).

Now you can prepare the dish:

Add the onion, ginger and garlic to a food processor and render to a paste. Add the oil and butter to a wok and heat together then ad the onion paste and fry on medium heat until the mixture is a light brown and the oil separates away (this will take longer than you think!).

Add all the spices at this point and fry for about 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes. Continue cooking until the tomatoes break down and the oil separates from the mixture once again. Add the crabs and continue cooking for 4 minutes before adding he potatoes (if using).

Add just enough water to cover the entire mix then bring to a boil and allow to simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Serve hot with plain boiled rice.

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