Njandu Varutharachathu – Crab Cooked in Roasted & Ground Coconut gravy

Crabs…..crabs….crabs…all over…..few on our kitchen counter......few crawling on the kitchen floor……..some breaking my fingers with their claws…..some hanging on my apron…….!!!

This was almost like a nightmare for me whenever I thought of buying crabs from our International store where they sell fresh crabs which literally crawl, on top of one another, in that big container and people are given something like tongs to catch them and put then in a brown paper bag. The only time I curse myself for not staying with my mother in the kitchen and not learning how to clean and cut fresh crabs!! I had to suppress my cravings whenever my mother casually told me , “…oh…we got some crab today…..and I made your favorite Varutharacha curry and it came out very tasty as the crab was really fresh this time….your father was feasting on it.....” Phew!!!! And ever since I started blogging, I was lucky enough to get good blogger friends who religiously posted crab dishes every now and then and made me salivate!!

Finally I decided to conquer my fears of handling crabs and as a first step, I bought some cooked King crab legs from a local store and made some Crab Roast and oh boy, I was floored! It was so flavorful and tasty that I wanted to eat more and try all those scrumptious dishes my mother makes. Luckily last time when we went to the store, I saw the shop assistant at the seafood section cleaning and cutting “the crawling yummies” …….I was uncertain of only one thing, whether to hug the guy or jump up and down!! Though I had my own fears of cooking fresh crab for the time, I bought some and made my favourite Njandu Varutharacha curry or curried crab in roasted ground coconut gravy and yes, I did get some gratification finally! :)

This curried crab in roasted and ground coconut gravy is one of my mother’s specials and one of my favourite seafood preparations. Roasted ground coconut has a distinct and powerful taste and when the seafood flavour is blended with this, it elevates this dish to a whole new level where the aroma is just irresistible. This is a MUST TRY for all crab lovers and when I say it IS a delightful seafood preparation, you have to trust me as even CJJ who has not eaten crab much, especially with the shells, was gorging on this dish and it was sort of funny and cute at the same, him eating the crabs with both his hands :)

Ingredients:

1. 5 medium crabs, thoroughly cleaned and cut into two parts
2. 3-4 Indian green chillies, crushed
3. 2 small cloves of garlic, crushed
4. A small piece, around ½ inch, of ginger crushed
5. ½ tsp freshly ground pepper powder
6. ¼ tsp turmeric powder
7. ½ tsp salt
8. 1 small piece of Kudam-Puli/Gamboge
9. Water to cook
10. 1/3 cup small cubed potatoes

For Dry Roasting:

• 2 ½ tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp chilly powder

For Roasting and Grinding:

• ½- ¾ cup grated coconut
• 2 small pearl-red onions, thinly sliced
• 1 small clove of garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 small pinches of fennel seeds/Perinjeerakam
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

For the Masala Powder:

• 1 tsp fennel seeds/Perinjeerakam
• 2 cloves
• 2 small broken 1” inch sticks of cinnamon
• 1 cardamom

For seasoning:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 dried red chillies
• A handful of thinly sliced big onions

Directions:

• Make the Masala Powder: Grind the whole spices, noted in the Masala Powder section, to make a fine powdered spice mix.
• Make roasted & ground coconut Paste: Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil, add grated coconut, thinly sliced small red onions, garlic and fennel seeds and roast, in low heat, till it becomes nice and brown ( do not burn it); put everything in the small jar of mixer or coffee grinder and grind till it turns to be a smooth paste.(Note: If you re using frozen grated coconut, you may have to add few drops of water, while grinding, to make it a paste; please note that adding water dilutes the roasted flavour.)
• Dry Roasted spice Paste: Dry roast the coriander powder in low heat for few minutes, till the raw smell goes and the colour changes; repeat the same for chilly powder as well, without burning the spice powders at all. Keep these dry roasted powders aside add 1 tbsp water to make a smooth paste.
• Cooking Crab: In a “curry-chatty” or any earthenware, add all the ingredients from 1 to 10 and add water, just enough to cover all the pieces, and bring it to a boil, in medium heat and cook for around 10 minutes (Note: Crab gets cooked fast). At this stage reduce the heat, add the dry roasted spice paste of coriander powder and chilly powder and bring to a boil and then add the masala powder; stir well and let it boil again. When it boils, add the roasted and ground coconut paste and mix well with the rest of the ingredients in the cooking vessel and let it boil, in low-medium heat and then let it slow cook for some more time or till the gravy gets a bit thick and creamy; Do a salt-test and switch off the stove when it is done. In another pan, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds, dried red chillies, thinly sliced big onion and sauté till it turns transparent; tear some curry leaves and add it to this seasoning and pour the whole thing to the cooked crab and gently stir to blend the seasoning with the curry; close the lid and let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.
• Serve warm with rice, chappathi (Indian flat bread) or palappam (Kerala’s laced pancakes)

Note: While cleaning the crab, remove the yellow layers and keep the orange ones which is crab eggs. Back home at kerala its called “Ponnu” and add this only towards the end of cooking , i.e just two minutes before turning off the stove prior to the seasoning part. The colour: According to my mother, the color of the curry depends on how well you brown/roast the grated coconut. If the coconut is not browned evenly it will lack the rich dark brown colour which is missing in my pictures. So if you get dark rich brown colour, then it has come out how it has to be.

Crab Roast is already in my drafts and will post it soon. Watch out this space for more crab preparations….. :)

Luv
Shn

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