Sunday, December 19, 2010

King Kankra Curry

A trip to St. Lawrence Market over the weekend means we eat like kings and queens for the rest of the week. And these insanely colossal crabs (Kankra in Bengali) are just enough reason to reinstate the feeling of royalty on our plates.

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I made my Mum’s Spicy Crab Curry recipe today, which has remained in the family for three generations now. She inherited it from her Grandmother, who as long as I remember remained on a wheelchair for the latter part of her life. I sometimes became her lathi, human walking stick, with her resting her winkled but strong arms on my shoulders to take her from one room to another.

“Nani” passed on in her 90s and always used an unuun (chulha, Indian clay oven) for cooking. Her servants would get the unuun close to where she sat in the courtyard for her to spend the rest of the afternoon making her signature sondesh, goja, narkel naru, nolen gurer payesh, pantua, and other out-of-the-world delicacies. Needless to say, no one could out-cook a Grandmother.

IMG_3722 These crabs were cracked by the fish monger, but I had to de-shell them before cooking. I also cracked and broke their claws from the body for easy cooking.

Since you already have the recipe, I will just go ahead and share the pictures of how I made them today. Oh and another thing, I did not use potatoes today as mentioned in the original recipe. And also changed the measurements of the ingredients for the amount of crab we had today.

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IMG_3734Turn the heat off and garnish with fresh coriander.

IMG_3737 IMG_3740 IMG_3747 This crab curry tastes perfect with plain white rice. With a rush of great flavors in my mouth, my Sunday will be complete, as I close my drooping eyes for a well-deserved snooze.

I am linking this to Patty’s Weekend Wrap Up – Week 11, the last one on her Blog for 2010. Patty is a dear Blogger friend who outshines everyone on the circuit with her warm infusion of colors for everyday mundane things. Do check out ideas on Christmas decorations on her Blog.

9 comments:

Priya Suresh said...

Slurp, mouthwatering crab curry..

GB said...

I've never had crab curry---anything from your kitchen must be fantastic! I need to make a trip up north and bring my appetite with me........

Scribbler :) said...

I love crab...but am such a lazy cook. Plus I always thought that cleaning them was a hassle. But your pics make me salivate so much now, that I'd rather buy flight tickets to India.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

lovely - looks so yum...

Unknown said...

dekhei khete ichhe korchhe...too tempting....

Tanvi@Sinfully Spicy said...

Wow..that looks like one lovely dish with crab.I never tried crab in curries..in salads or sandwiches only.I get live crabs too in a nearbu chinese market..lemme get some !

Unknown said...

mouth watering! love crabs!

Cham said...

I always had the blue shell one- I should try this king crab- I love this seafood and ur curry too!

PreeOccupied said...

Made these babies for someone who especially wanted to eat crabs cooked by me.

My husband who doesn't like crabs and is weary of all the hard work to get into the meat of the matter, gorged on these that day. :-)