Crab curry

Name: Crab curry
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Ingredients: 5 cm (2 in) piece pandanus leaf; 1 sprig murunga (drumstick leaves); 1 tablespoon chilli powder; 3 small onions, finely chopped; 1 sprig curry leaves, leaves picked; 50 g (1¾ oz) ghee; 2 live mud crabs, about 1.25 kg (2 lb 12 oz) each; juice of ½ a lime; 30 g (1 oz/1 cup) (loosely packed coriander leaves; 1 lemongrass stem, bruised; 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds; 5 cm (2 in) piece cinnamon stick; 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, roasted and ground; 3 small green chillies, finely chopped; 2 cm (¾ in) piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped; ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric; 400 ml (14 fl oz) coconut milk; ¼ teaspoon dill seeds

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Serendip

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2009

About

This recipe is a favourite of mine. It calls for murunga (drumstick leaves) but it can be made without them. Crab curry is delicious served with krill sambal.

Ingredients

2 live mud crabs, about 1.25 kg (2 lb 12 oz)

Asia
Sri Lanka
Fish course
Pescatarian
Spicy
Gluten-free

Method

Put the crabs in the freezer for 1 hour to immobilise them. Pull off the top shells, pull out the spongy grey gills and remove the guts. Chop each crab into 6 pieces, then crack the large claws but leave them attached. Place the crab pieces in a large bowl with the coconut milk, Goro