Nandu varuval / crab fry

  
Generally Crabs are cooked in different ways,  Recipe which I have given below is very easy to cook but preserves delicious taste with tempting aroma. Give a try & let me know your comments.  Will post other crab entrees in future.

Ingredients:

Crab - 1 pound / 500 gms
Cilantro for garnishing.

For masala paste:

Onion - 2 ( medium, cubed)
Tomato - 1 (medium,cubed)
Green chili - 1 or to taste
Ginger - 1" chopped
Garlic - 6~7 pods
Cumin - ½tsp
Pepper - ½tsp or to taste
Fennel seeds/ sombu - ½ tsp
Cilantro - ¼cup(minced)
Mint - ¼cup (minced)
Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
Kuzhambu milagai thool - 11/2 tsp or to taste (or)
Red chili powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Corainder powder - ½ tsp or to taste
Salt - to taste
Water - ½ cup or as required.

For seasoning:

Oil- 2 tbsp
Fennel Seed / Fennel seed powder - ½tsp
Curry leaves - As required.

Method:

• Grind all the masala paste ingredients together & adjust the salt to taste.
• Clean & wash crab and cut it in to desired size.
• In large bowl or in a Ziploc, add both masala paste & crab together.
• Mix well & Marinate it for atleast 2 hours or overnight in refrigerator( I usually keep it overnight, this will give nice aroma and juicy crab)
• Heat oil in a wide pan & add the seasoning ingredients as listed.
• Then add marinated crab to it & mix well.
• Cover with lid and let it cook in low heat for 15 ~ 20 minutes.
• Stir in between to avoid masala to burn at the bottom & there is no need to add extra water since crab itself tends to leaves extra water.
• Cook until masala thickens or oil starts to leaves the sides,  If you want dry crab let it cook for another 10 minutes in medium heat.
• Adjust salt & pepper to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot..