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.

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.

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.

Turn the heat off and garnish with fresh coriander.

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.

Pepper Crabs On A Bed Of Wok-Fried Garlic Noodles

Small crabs aren’t my BIG thing! But I got these on SALE. Which would have logically meant, I should have bought more, but I didn’t because I was just experimenting. And I thought all that green from the snow peas and capsicum would be a good prelude to the first day of Boishakh the next day.

This is a deceptively easy recipe I  made last night. And yes, the recipe is mine. It is minimum of a time taker and all you need is a light hand of seasoning with just pepper and garlic.
Ingredients for the Wok-Fried Garlic Noodles:

Egg noodles enough for 2-3 people
Handful of snow peas
1 green bell pepper cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons oyster sauce
Olive oil
Salt
Boil the noodles and drain, as per the instructions on the pack. Heat olive oil in a wok, and add the minced garlic. Fry on low-medium heat and do not brown the garlic. As you see the garlic cooked, add the snow peas and the sliced green bell peppers. Stir for a few minutes on high flame now. Add the noodles and fry till all the ingredients are mixed well. Add oyster sauce and season with salt. Keep it aside.

Ingredients for the Pepper Crabs:

6 soft shell crabs
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons freshly pounded black pepper
Salt
In a pan, melt the butter and immediately add the minced garlic. We do not have to brown the garlic, just frying it on low heat lets it cook. Add the cleaned and washed crabs. Toss it around in the butter and garlic. Add the fresh pepper and salt. Remove and transfer to a baking dish.
(If you need to read about how to clean crabs, here is some good information.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Let the crabs sit in the oven for 10-15 minutes till they form a crust at the top.
Serve the Pepper Crabs on the already cooked Wok-Fried Garlic Noodles. This dinner was done, as I sipped half-way through my glass of Caesar. Its that easy and no-fuss. Cheers and Shubho Nabo Borsho!
 

Spicy Bengali Crabs

My favorite destination in Chinatown is this huge store called Oriental Harvest. From fresh fruits, veggies and fish to all the South Asian grocery, this place is an underground haven.

And its seafood and fish section is huge! I usually shop for Bong fish in the Bangladeshi stores, but if you want some fish from all around, this place will make you stinking happy!

But I would recommend you use only cash to pay for your purchase. In the last two times that I have used my debit card, my card has been compromised. Though I managed to get my money back. Apparently some miscreant employees are up to this theft. I have been told by my bank that the store is already under the scanner.

But that does not deter me from shopping here every time I am in Spadina Avenue.

Have a look at the variety of fish you can buy in an oriental store in downtown Toronto.

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Its here that I picked the freshest of crabs a Bengali could lay her hands on.

I wanted to make this crab dish my Mum makes, and I knew I had all the right ingredients as soon as I picked some green chilies too.

This Spicy Bengali Crab is not for the heat-resistant. Its got just the basic spices from an Indian kitchen, but loads of flavors.

Here is the recipe:

2 large crabs (the fish monger will crack and de-shell them for you)
2 large potatoes cut into wedges
2 medium size ripe tomatoes roughly sliced
1 medium size onion finely sliced
2 tablespoons garlic paste
Handful of green chilies slit
Finely chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
2 tablespoon mustard oil
Salt

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Heat the mustard oil in thick bottom pan and add the crabs, claws, et. al.

 

 

 

Toss them for about 5-6 minutes till they get this gorgeous red color on them.

 

 

 

Keep them aside and add the potato wedges in the remaining oil. Glaze the potatoes till they turn golden. Remove from the oil and add the sliced onions.

 

Fry the onions till they get a little brown, add the garlic paste, slit green chilies, and the spices. Fry for a couple of minutes more and add the tomatoes.

 

Within 2-3 minutes of frying all the ingredients, add the potatoes and crabs kept aside. Add salt.

 

 

Make sure the spices coat the potatoes and crabs. Add half cup of water and cover with a lid.

The potato and crabs cook pretty quickly. You should check within 5-7 minutes and if the potatoes are done, turn the heat off.

Sprinkle the Spicy Crabs with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve them with hot Basmati rice.

Get dirty and get hot eating all that crab meat!