Crab Malai Curry

I did not learn to appreciate crabs till my aunt fromm Kolkatta came to visit us in  Cochin. She insisted on buying some crabs and cooking them. From then on, my brother and I would wait for when Ma would buy crabs and cook this dish. Over the years, I have cooked this multiple times and after many variations, this is the recipe I am most pleased with. Serve over steaming hot rice and enjoy!

Ingredients

• Two whole crabs, cut in to 4 pieces and claws separated
• 2 table spoon maida
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 onion grounded in to a paste
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic
• 1/2 tsp each of haldi, chilli powder, dhania powder
• 1/4 tsp of cumin powder
• 1 can coconut cream/milk
• 5-6 green chillies
•  1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 3 green cardamom
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4-5 cloves
• 5 green chillies slit in half
• 1/2 cup oil
• coriander leaves to garnish
• garam masala, bengali style

Directions

• Clean crab thoroughly. dry and then coat with flour and salt. Leave aside.
• Put 1/4 cup oil in a hot wok and let the oil heat. Add crabs and fry lightly on high.
• Remove crabs and drain excess oil on a plate coated with a paper towel. Add the whole spices to the oil , when it splutters, add the onion paste. Fry in medium heat till it is light brown and add the ginger garlic paste. Saute for 30 secs and add tomato paste
• Once this mixture has lost the raw onion smell, add the dry masalas. Add salt to taste ( 1 teaspoon)
• Reduce heat to low and cover the wok , let the juices intermingle . If the paste is too dry, add a little water. Keep watching to make sure the paste does not burn.
• Once the oil starts separating from the paste, add the fried crabs and half the can of coconut milk. Let the mixture simmer at low-med heat for 10 mins. Now add the remaining coconut milk and bring the whole mixture to boil.
• Once it has boiled, add 1 teaspoon bengali garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves.
• The same dish can be substituted with prawns for chingri malai curry. Wash and devein shrimps, add a little turmeric and salt and fry insteadof flour and proceed in similar way. Reduce cooking time as shrimp will cook much faster than crab. simmering for 2-3 minutes is more than enough for shrimp.