Black Pepper Crab, My Style!
This is a delicious crab recipe which is light, but bursting with flavour and taste. Adding fresh coconut to the pepper masala worked like magic and it helped in enhancing the juicy sweet taste of the crab meat and balanced all the flavours. While the curry leaves infused a spicy perfume into the crab, the black pepper gave it a kick with its aromatic peppery notes. The earthy nutty tone of the roasted cumin and the cooling licorice taste of the fennel all added to the flavour and taste and the result was an enticing, finger licking irresistibly delicious crab dish!
Ingredients
- 1 live dungeness crab 1.5 lbs
- 1 large onion sliced
- 2 tbs fresh curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 green cardamoms
- 1 2" cinnamon stick
For the dry roast pepper masala
- 1 tbs black pepper corns
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
For the wet ground pepper masala
- 4-5 garlic cloves medium size
- 4 green chillies
- 1 tbs black pepper corns
- 2 tbs grated coconut
- 1 tbs onion
Instructions
- Kill the Dungeness crab, remove the shell, cut the legs at the joints, scrape the tiny hair on either side of the crab legs, remove the gills, mucous, clean well, rinse and set aside. Check out my other recipe which gives details on what you need to know about crab and also how to clean it.
- Pound the legs a bit or put small slits on them with a knife carefully. This is done to make the masala seep inside when it is being cooked which makes the meat flavourful and juicy.
- Roast the black pepper, cumin and fennel seeds for extra flavour (optional). Grind together the dry masala ingredients to a slightly coarse powder.
- Grind together all the ingredients of the wet ground masala with a little water and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a pot. Add whole spices (pepper corns, green cardamoms, cinnamon), and when they sizzle add curry leaves chopped garlic and onions. Caramelize chopped garlic and onions well till they are aromatic & golden in colour.
- Immediately add the wet ground masala, then add the dry masala, some salt, a little water and mix well.
- Now toss the crab into the caramelized onion spice masala in the pot and sauté till they change colour to pink - 5 minutes.
- Drizzle some coconut milk and mix well. Pour a little water around the sides of the pot to wash away the masala sticking to the sides, cover and let it simmer on medium/low flame for another 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile pound some black pepper in a mortar and pestle coarsely. You could also pulse to get the same result in a dry grinder.
- Uncover the lid and reduce the sauce on high flame till it thickens and the masala coats the crab.
- Sprinkle the freshly pounded black pepper generously on the crab and dish it out. Enjoy with coconut rice and steamed veggies or salad. I served some fried fish and steamed bok choy and another time with some water cress salad. So delicious! You could also try it out with rice aappams or idyappams (rice hoppers or string hoppers).
Notes
Notes:
1. Follow the instructions exactly step by step to get the utmost flavour out of this dish.
2. You could roast the dry masala spices or just grind them without roasting if you are pressed for time. But do not grind the roasted spices before they cool down as all the flavour will be lost.
3. Do not over cook the crab as it will turn dry and rubbery.
4. Always use live crabs to make a whole crab dish.
5. Do not delay cooking the crab after killing it. It is best to cook it within an hour of killing it.
1. Follow the instructions exactly step by step to get the utmost flavour out of this dish.
2. You could roast the dry masala spices or just grind them without roasting if you are pressed for time. But do not grind the roasted spices before they cool down as all the flavour will be lost.
3. Do not over cook the crab as it will turn dry and rubbery.
4. Always use live crabs to make a whole crab dish.
5. Do not delay cooking the crab after killing it. It is best to cook it within an hour of killing it.