Crab Masala

Ingredients:

• Crab - 3
• Small onions - 1 cup
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Garlic - 8 to 10 pods
• Ginger - 1"
• Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek - 1 tsp
• Split urudh dhal - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 3
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves
• Salt - to taste
• Tamarind solution - 2 tbsp 

To Grind

• Coconut - 1/2 cup
• pepper - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 4 to 6
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

Clean wash the crab with little rock salt.

Peel the small onions and garlic and halve them into two.

Chop the onion and tomato. Cut the ginger into small cubes.

Grind coconut and other ingredients to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan add the seasonings (pepper, urudh dhal, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves).

Add the small onions, garlic and the chopped onion, ginger and saute well.

Once cooked add the tomatoes and cook well. Add salt and turmeric powder.

Toss in the washed crab. Close the pan and let the crab cook. open and toss the content occasionally.

A nice aroma evaporates announcing the crab is cooked well.

Add the ground paste and the tamarind solution. Let it simmer for few minutes.

Turn off and transfer to a serving bowl when the gravy reaches the needed consistency.

 crab 

Note: Basically crab is rich in calcium, good for young mothers who breast feed. Crab need to be washed well in lot of water as there will be sand in the nook and corner of the shell. Right time to buy crab is when no moon day is nearing as it will be fleshy. We add pepper as it is healthy but be careful while adding pepper as excess will burn the lip. You can also make it only small onions as it will add more taste. Crab for that matter any sea food will get cooked soon so not to worry 10 to 15 minutes is good enough to cook crab. If you need more gravy then ground onion and tomato can be added once after adding the small onions and garlic and cook till the raw smell goes. the ginger helps in digestion. Cut it into cubes so it can be picked out later to avoid chewing them or shred them and add.