Crab cutlet

This is a ball of savoury mixture of crab meat with potato coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried in oil.

Ingredients:

Cooked dressed crab 300g
Onions 1 medium
Potato 100 Gms
Eggs 3
Green Chillies 5
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs
Oil for frying

Method:

Peel, clean and cut potatoes into large pieces boil them in water, mash finely and save.

Separate the white and the yolk of eggs and save both

Dice onions and cut green chillies into small pieces. Fry diced onions in little oil until golden and add the cut green chillies and fry further until chilli pieces are soft.

Add dressed crabs, salt, and stir well and let it cook for five minutes stirring occasionally.

Now add the yolk of the eggs and cook in low fire until all the egg has been cooked.

Now add the mashed potatoes and mix well to form a large ball. When adding the mash, remember that potato mash should be just adequate for the crab meat to stick together. Too much potato will mask the taste and flavour of the crab.

Set aside to cool.

Beat the white of the eggs until it froths.

Make lime sized firm balls out of the crab potato mixture and press firmly into round shapes.

Dip the balls in the white of eggs and coat with bread crumbs and deep fry these in hot oil until the bread crumbs become golden brown. Remove and drain oil. Serve hot.

Serve with: Edible on its own, with chilli or tomato sauces or with any rice dishes and curries.

Crab curry (Shell free)

About crab meat:

Cooked crab meat is available in the West in cans, or in crab shells wrapped with film or you can buy whole cooked crabs and the meat can be removed. Still better is to buy uncooked crabs, cook them at home and remove flesh from them. These latter two processes are laborious but the crab meat is fresh and tastier.

Ingredients:

Cooked crab meat 500 Gms
Onions 2 large
Green chillies 3
Roasted curry powder 1 ½ tablespoons
Fennel seeds 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves 10
Milk 1 cup
Oil 2 tablespoons
Lime juice 1 tablespoons
Ginger 1 inch piece
Salt to taste

Method:

Dice onions, cut green chillies into two lengthwise and ginger into very small pieces.

In a hot pan dry roast fennel seeds until they turn golden, add oil and fry onions. When they turn golden, reduce the heat to low and add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger pieces, and stir.

Now add the salt, curry powder, milk and stir gently. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for five minutes or until raw smell of curry powder disappears.

Now add the crab meat and stir and let it cook in low heat.

As the liquid is evaporating, stir and simmer until the curry is dry enough.

This curry should not have too much gravy.

Add lime juice and remove from fire.

This can be best cooked in a microwave oven - Click Here

Serve with: Rice dishes, pittu, string hoppers etc.

Crab Curry (Shell on)

               Crab Curry - Shell On

This dish can be done with fresh raw crabs or cooked whole crabs. Cooking with fresh raw crabs gives a much tastier dish. Frozen uncooked crabs are available in the West in Indian and Sri Lankan shops.

This dish requires a large wide mouthed pan to cook and a lid to suit it.

Ingredients:

Crabs 4 large
Onions 2 large
Green chillies 4
Roasted curry powder 3 tablespoons
Curry leaves 10
Fennel seeds 1 teaspoon
Coconut milk or milk 3 cups
Lemon juice 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tablespoons
Ginger 1 inch piece
Water 2 cups
Murungai leaves fresh if available 1 cup

Method:

Dice onions, cut green chillies into small pieces and cut ginger into very small pieces.

Clean and divide the crabs into four pieces each. Keep the claws on.

In a large pan dry roast the fennel seeds until they turn golden, add oil and add the diced onions and fry until onions turn golden and now add the curry leaves and fry for a minute.

Add the Murungai leaves if available, washes and cleaned to this pot.

Now add the crab pieces, curry powder, salt and the water and cover and let it cook for 5 to 8 minutes.

Stir and add the milk and simmer in low fire until the liquid is reduced to half.

Add the lime juice and remove from fire.

The gravy should have reduced to a thick consistency.

Serve with: Any rice dishes

Baked crabs

You need clean empty crab shells for this dish. If you bought the dressed crabs in shells, then remove the meat and save the shells. This dish tastes like crab cutlets but without the potato and the meat is cooked in a crab shell. This was a fried dish because ovens were not available but now it is cooked in an oven. This can be a main meal.

Ingredients:

Cooked dressed crab meat 200 Gms
Onions 2 large
Eggs 2
Green Chillies 4
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs
Crab shells medium 4

Method:

Separate the white and the yolk of eggs and save both.

Dice onions and cut green chillies into small pieces.

Fry diced onions in little oil until golden and add the cut green chillies and fry further until chilli pieces are soft.

Add dressed crabs, salt, and stir well and let it cook for five minutes stirring occasionally.

Now add the yolk of the eggs and cook in low fire until all the egg has been cooked. The mixture should be dry.

Set aside to cool.

Clean the crab shells and dry them.

Fill each shell with the crab meat mixture and press with fingers tightly.

Spoon out the egg white on to the top of the crab meat and sprinkle bread crumbs over this to cover.

When the crab shells are ready, put them on an oven tray and bake them in a preheated oven at 180 C until bread crumbs turn golden.

Supervise regularly.

Note:

If you like the fried taste, boil some oil in a pan and gently slide the crab shells one by one in this oil and fry until bread crumbs turn golden.

You must have enough oil to cover the shell and meat completely.

Serve with: Steamed or boiled vegetables and potato chips, mash etc.