Crab Fry Recipe / Nandu Varuval Recipe

This is another one of my mother's specialty recipes. It is quite similar to the prawn masala that I have posted already. The taste of this, is simply out of the world! Finger licking good! Literally! It's also very simple to prepare. Extremely spicy dish, so you will have to adjust the spice level to your preference. We love it like this. I will also upload a video on how to clean crabs soon.

My mom has been making this all my life but I never used to eat it! Somehow eating crabs was a chore! But then, one day, my kind brother patiently removed the flesh from 2-3 crabs and gave me to taste and from then on, I have never said no to crabs! Especially the ones my mum makes! It's worth all the time and trouble to eat these!

Ingredients

• Crabs - 1/2 kg without shell (1 kg with shell)
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
• Tamarind water - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 3 tbsp

To grind

• Onion - 2 
• Tomatoes - 3
• Garlic - 15 pods
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Pepper corns - 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method

1. De shell the crabs and clean them thoroughly. Grind the onions, tomatoes. ginger garlic, pepper corns and curry leaves and set aside.

2. In a non stick pan, add oil. Once the oil heats up, add the cumin seeds. Allow it to splutter.

3. Add the ground paste and saute for a few minutes in low flame. Be careful while adding the paste as it will splutter.

4. Keep stirring for about 3-4 minutes until the oil starts separating. 

5. Add the turmeric powder and garam masala powder and mix well. Allow it to cook for a couple more minutes.

6. Add the crabs and add about 1 cup of water and mix well.

7. Close the lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes or until the crab is cooked well. 

8. Switch off stove dependng on the gravy thickness you prefer.

Notes

1. We like a dry gravy so we allow the crabs to cook until the water is fully gone. If you prefer a semi gravy, add water accordingly and switch off accordingly.

2. This is a spicy dish with the pepper and garam masala. Do adjust accordingly.

Until next time,

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