CRAB MASALA - SPICY SOUTH INDIAN NANDU MASALA

     When you are walking through a beach it is very common to see a sand crab, those little creatures creating trails in the sand and suddenly burrowing themselves into the small holes.  My first acquaintance to a crab was an incident similar to the above in Kovalam(Kerala) Beach. Crabs - crustaceans with a menacing look, but popular around the world for its wonderfully soft, succulent and sweet flesh.
     We get a fresh catch in the wet market and it is very common to find live Giant Mud Crabs. And the market would have batches of freshly caught blue coloured Flower Crabs during No Moon Day.  I have heard people say that Crabs caught during the week of a no moon day are said to be fleshy, juicy and of excellent quality.  They would display Crabs in different sizes, crammed in a glass tank with their claws wire shut. The claws of those live Crabs would be tied tightly with Raffia Strings/Rubberbands. I am sceptical cutting open the strings when the Crabs are conscious.  Mercy Aunty, my MIL's sister had a very bad wound in her fingers while cleaning fresh crabs.  It had caught her fingers with all might that she was unable to remove it until she severed the claw and pulled it out from her fingers. So I usually leave it in the freezer for a few hours before getting the job done. Just believing to the notion - "Crustaceans cannot feel pain" but actually they just might, I'm not sure.
     But once the hard-shelled friends are cooked, the feeling is dissolved when we dig into the succulent, sweet meat.  Eating Crabs are commonly termed to be as a  slightly difficult task, extracting the meat out of that hard shell is indeed a task while eating something tasty. But the effort is paid well. This Crab Masala recipe is a typical South Indian Style spicy gravy with very few ingredients.  A simple and easy to cook recipe.  The local spices added in this recipe enhances the overall flavour and taste of the Curry.

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Cuisine - Tamilnadu, South India
Course - Side Dish
Spice Level - Medium - High
Difficulty - Medium
Serves - 3-4
Author - SM

Preparation Time - 30-45 Minutes
Cooking Time -  20-30 Minutes

HOW TO COOK CRAB MASALA - SPICY SOUTH INDIAN NANDU MASALA

CRAB MASALA - SPICY SOUTH INDIAN NANDU MASALA

INGREDIENTS :

For Crab Masala :

Crab - 1 Kg
Onion - 1 No.
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 Tspn
Oil - 2 Tbspn
Fennel Seeds - 1/2 Tspn
Curry Leaves - 2 Sprigs
Tamarind - a lime sized.
Salt - To Taste

To Grind:

Onion - 2 Nos.
Garlic - 10-12 Cloves
Turmeric - 1/2 Tspn
Dry Red Chillies - 8-10 Nos.
Coriander Powder - 2 Tbspn
Peppercorns - 1 Tspn
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 Tspn

To Garnish :

Coriander Leaves - few

METHOD :

How to Clean a Crab :

• First, remove the outer shell, pulling from the back of the crab.
• Remove the gills and scoop out the guts inside the body of the crab. 
• Rinse the Crab in running water.
• Clean the abdomen part.
• Then cut it into quarters by splitting down the middle from head to tail, then cut each side into halves. 
• Remove the Pincers(top claws, if it is still attached they sometimes fall off during cleaning)
• Then remove the remaining three legs(from each side).
• Can trim off the ends from the legs. 
• Can cook it as whole Crabs or just cut into halves.
• Can also leave the pincers and legs intact, if you prefer to.