This Kerala style Crab Curry | Njandu curry is made with a fresh paste of coconut, and whole spices. Learn how to make one the best crab curries that will surely bring in the South Indian aromatic flavors of Kerala straight into your kitchen.
If you have been following me for a while you surely know I have a thing for seafood or rather I have a weakness for crustaceans in general :D. Scallops have turned into my new love ever since I had a taste of them here in the US, as we do not get sea scallops easily in India. And the same goes for Alaskan King crabs, snow crabs, blue crabs, and the likes. In India, the crabs are not that gigantic, but they are super delicious nonetheless.
We love to feast on a good crab meal at least once a month. That delicious and sweet crab meat is perfect for these curries. Despite the use of spices in this crab curry recipe, it still takes on a beautiful crab flavor that’s quite prominent.
I usually make my Mom’s recipe of Goan crab curry almost every time we get crabs, but this time I thought I should venture into trying something else. After all, there are so many Indian crab recipes, and I kind of want to try them all.
So today’s recipe is a South Indian style, Kerala style to be more specific. I used this recipe and adapted it slightly to suit our taste. I guess next on the list to try is Chettinad crab curry followed by the Bengali style. I anyways love that spicy Chettinad masala that I use for cooking up a chicken curry, and I’m sure that would be amazing with crabs as well.
HOW TO PREPARE CRAB GRAVY | KHEKADA CURRY | NJANDU CURRY?
This easy crab curry recipe just needs a ground paste that consists of freshly grated coconut, dried red chillies, some whole spices and tamarind for a subtle sourness. Some people use Kudampuli (Garcinia Cambogia) which is also known as Kerala tamarind, fish tamarind, or Malabar tamarind. People often confuse this with kokum, but the two are different. Kokum is also a souring agent, but it is used in that Maharashtrian, and Konkan regions. The use of kudampuli is quite popular in Kerala and Karnataka cuisine. It’s difficult to spot these here, so I went ahead with regular tamarind.
The ground paste is a breeze if you have some store-bought freshly grated coconut. Just remember to thaw it and use warm water for grinding, or else the fat from the cold coconut gratings will separate and curdle.
Once your spice paste is ready, all that is left to do is to temper the spice paste with mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies, onion, tomatoes, and turmeric powder. Add some water to make a curry sauce, dunk in the crabs, and let it soak in that amalgam of beautiful flavors.
The star ingredient of this crab curry is obviously the crabs. In the US we get crabs that are steamed, so there is actually zero prep work.
Let’s go ahead with this scrumptious crab curry recipe.
Table of Contents
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE KERALA STYLE CRAB CURRY WITH COCONUT | SOUTH INDIAN STYLE CRAB CURRY
1.Clean the crabs if using raw, fresh or frozen. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to go about it. I used steamed crabs, so I just broke it up into smaller pieces.
2.Add the dried red chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, tamarind, methi(fenugreek), coconut, and a little salt in a blender and blend into a smooth paste with about 1/2 cup water.
3.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, once it is hot add mustard seeds, let it crackle.
4.Add onions, curry leaves, green chillies, pinch of salt and sauté until translucent.
5.Next, add tomatoes, and turmeric powder, sauté until tomatoes turn mushy.
6.Add prepared spice paste, stir-fry the paste for another 2 minutes.
7.Add about 1 cup water, mix well and bring to a boil.
8.Add crabs (raw or steamed) and mix it, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes so that crabs absorb all the flavors. If using raw, cook for about 10-15 minutes.
9.Finally, add coconut milk, chopped cilantro leaves and mix nicely. Simmer for another minute. Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Switch off the heat and serve this delicious and spicy crab curry with steamed rice or appams. This curry tastes better, the longer it sits.
HOW TO MAKE CRAB CURRY | COCONUT CRAB CURRY?
Crab Curry Recipe With Coconut | Kerala Njandu Curry
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
For the coconut-spice paste
- 1 lb crabs
- 1 cup of freshly grated coconut
- 5 Kashmiri dried chillies
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger, peeled
- 8-10 black peppercorns
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
- Walnut-sized ball of tamarind, about 5 grams
Other ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped onions
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 3 tbsp coconut oil or any other oil
- 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
- Sprig of curry leaves
Instructions
- Clean the crabs if using raw, fresh or frozen. I used steamed crabs, so I just broke it up into smaller pieces.
- Add the dried red chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, tamarind, methi, coconut, and a little salt in a blender and blend into a smooth paste with about 1/2 cup water.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, once it is hot add mustard seeds, let it crackle.
- Add onions, curry leaves, green chillies, pinch of salt and sauté until translucent.
- Next, add tomatoes, and turmeric powder, sauté until tomatoes turn mushy.
- Add prepared spice paste, stir-fry the paste for another 2 minutes.
- Add about 1 cup water, mix well and bring to a boil.
- Add crabs (raw or steamed) and mix it, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes so that crabs absorb all the flavors. If using raw, cook for about 10-15 minutes.
- Finally, add coconut milk, chopped cilantro leaves and mix nicely. Simmer for another minute. Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Switch off the heat and serve this delicious and spicy crab curry with steamed rice or appams. This curry tastes better the longer it sits.
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Regards,
Freda
That’s the most beautiful curry dish I’ve ever seen. All I can get is canned crab where I live, unfortunately.
Aww 🙁 I guess canned meat would be ok too, would just make a messy curry 😀 thanks for stopping by 🙂