Jenji Gaasi

Sweet crab and a spicy coconut gravy; it shouldn't work, the spices should overpower the delicate flavour of the crab...bah that rubbish, this is wonderful and easy way of cooking crab, with the coconut base balancing out the sweetness and the spice to create this wonderful chemistry of flavour. This is a Manglorean dish and is best had with plain streamed rice. I love crab, especially cutting into it and extricating that wonderful meat. I also prefer to cook it with the shell, as it protects the meat from the heat through the slow cooking process. The dish takes around 40 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking.

Ingredients

• 250 g blue crab, cleaned and cut into large chunks
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 inch ginger, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 medium tomato, chopped into large chunks
• 2 red chilies, reconstituted in hot water
• 1 thumb sized piece of tamarind
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water

Method

1. Wash the crab, and sprinkle with salt and turmeric. Be restrained with the salt, as the crab will naturally be a little salty. Rub the turmeric and salt into the crab chunks.
2. Dry roast the peppercorns, coriander sees, star anise and cumin together, until they release their aroma. Keep stirring it around to prevent the cumin from burning.
3. Add the roasted spices to the ginger, garlic, fenugreek seeds, red chilies, coconut and tamarind, add a little water and grind into a thick and smooth paste.
4. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the onions. Fry until translucent.
5. Add the tomatoes and fry till it softens.
6. Add the ground paste and stir around. Cook the paste until the oil starts to separate.
7. Add the crab pieces and toss around so that the paste covers the crab. Add the water and salt to taste and cook covered for 8-10 minutes, till the crab cooks through.
8. Once done, take off the heat and let it rest for a few minutes.
9. Serve up over a base of plain rice.