A Sri Lankan Crab Curry

A crab curry from Sri Lanka

Its crab season again it seems here in Hyderabad ... if you can call it a 'season' as the city is several hundred kilometres from the coast.   But our regular fishmonger - who brings various seafood selections to our gate on a weekly basis - brought us some crabs the other day.

We usually cook them either as an Indian curry - in a slurry of mainly chillies, onions and coconut milk - or Chinese Malaysian style - with black beans, soy and more chillies!   (Chillies are a BIG ingredient in our household.)

However, having recently been gifted a book on Sri Lankan cuisine I thought I would try the following recipe.   Its from Peter Kuruvita's book "Serendip: My Sri Lankan Kitchen", written by an ex-pat Sri Lankan who is now a successful and well known chef in Australia with a popular Sydney seafood restaurant chain, a couple of television cooking shows under his belt and at least two cookbooks of which this is the first.

I had a memorable meal with an old Sydney friend at his restaurant "Flying Fish" several years ago.  It's a beautiful restaurant located on an old pier in Pyrmont, one of Sydney's many seaside suburbs and, whilst at the time I didnt know much about the chef in their kitchen, the seafood was superb.   I seem to remember having a seafood laksa - the Malaysian meal-in-a-bowl of curried noodles, with various fresh seafood and a base of chilli and coconut milk.

The book is written in the now familiar family nostalgia/travelogue style of cookbooks with lots of old photographs of his extended Si Lankan family and some beautifully shot contemporary pictures of various scenic spots on the island along with pictures of the recipes set amongst old family antiques and table settings.

Since the end of the civil war there in May 2009 I have been 'imagining' a holiday trip to Sri Lanka following reports from friends of the beauty of the country and its people and the apparent abundance of seafood and other delicacies of this region.   Plus its less than an hours flight from Chennai! Yet I am troubled by continued criticism of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime and its reported use of torture and abuse of human rights both during the civil war - particularly in the final days of crushing the Tamil Tiger rebel forces - and since then as well.   Only this week he was forced to cancel a speech in London during the Queen's Jubilee Celebration due to the threat of massive demonstations by UK-based Tamils and human rights activists.

Do you boycott holidaying in a country whose government is continually criticised internationally, or do you go anyway and in a small way help the country's tourist industry and larger economy get back on its feet after years of civil war and terror?   Havent finally decided how to resolve this dilemma.

Anyway, the recipe for crab curry from "Serendip" was incredibly tasty with the pungent aromas of curry leaves, lemongrass, fenugreek, chillies and coconut milk.

Crab Curry from Peter Kuruvita's "Serendip"

Ingredients:

1.5 kg of crabs, cleaned and halved on the shell
400ml coconut milk
1 piece of Goroka - or Kokum as its known in India
1 T chilli powder
2 t roasted & ground cumin seeds
5cm cinnamon stick
1 t fenugreek seeds
1/2 t tumeric
50 gm of ghee (or oil)
3 small red onions, chopped
2 cm piece of ginger, chopped
2 sprigs of curry leaves
1 stick of lemongrass, bruised
3 green chillies, chopped
1/4 t dill seeds
1 C coriander leaves, chopped
1 drumstick (or Murunga as Sri Lankans know it)
juice of a lime

Method:

1/.   Place crabs in large bowl with coconut milk, kokum, chilli powder, cumin, cinnamon, fenugreek and tumeric.   Combine well and leave for 30 mins.
2/.   Heat ghee or oil in a wok over high heat and add onion, ginger, curry leaves, lemongrass and chillies - cook for 5 mins.
3/.   Add dill - cook for 2 mins - and then add crab mixture.   Cover and simmer for 12 to 15 mins until crab is just cooked and sauce has thickened.   Add coriander, drumstick and lime juice plus salt to taste and heat through till ready.

We served this with rice, a vegetable dish and a Bengali prawn curry a friend had dropped off for us to try.   Great meal and I will be cooking again from this book sometime soon!

Tony saab/Hyderabad   June 2012