Crab fry

I am a big fan of crabs from my childhood. My Aayi prepares crab for me and fish for my brother because I am not a fan of fish and he is not a fan of crabs. Now this has continued as my husband has joined my brother’s group. So there are distinct “crab-lovers” and “fish-lovers” groups at home. When we go to restaurants, I always ordered “crab thali” and my brother and hubby ordered “fish thalis”. Well…my sis-in-law keeps changing the group :D.
Aayi always prepared crab gravy. Though I had tasted many crab recipes in restaurants, the gravy was the only dish that I managed to cook. So my “crab” category had only one dish. Recently while I was talking to Deepa, she mentioned this point to me. She said I have to post more recipes in this category. She also gave this “crab fry” recipe to me and asked me to try it.
To tell the truth, I had my own doubts when I saw this recipe. Since the crabs are fried along with the shell, I was wondering how they will get cooked. But then I thought, when Deepa is telling it is so good, I should at least try once. At last after thinking for a long time, I decided to try it. I could not believe it…it was just amazing. Yummy, do not go on my words, just try it yourself and you will know what I am saying . Thanks Deepa for introducing me to this dish.
I also tried Shynee’s crab masala with remaining crabs. It was amazing. Read more here.
If you want to learn how to clean crabs, click here.
Ingredients:
Cleaned crabs 4-5
Red chili powder 1 tea spn
Tamarind extract 1/4 tea spn (Squeeze the thick juice of small line sized tamarind if extract cannot be found)
Garlic 3-4 small (use 1-2 if using big ones)
Rava (sooji) 2 tbl spns
Turmeric a pinch
Oil
Salt
Ginger can also be added along with garlic to this dish. But I didn’t include it.
Only the stomach part is used for the fry. Do not use the legs.
Method:
Crush garlic (and ginger if desired). Apply it to crabs along with chili powder, tamarind, turmeric and salt. Leave it for around 1 hr so that the masala seeps in. I marinated it overnight.
Heat tava and spread some oil on it. Roll the crabs in sooji(rava) and fry on tava. Close the crabs with a lid. Fry on a low flame. After 5-6 mins, turn them. Take care not to burn. They usually take bit more time than fish fry.
Serves : 2-3
Preparation time : 20-30mins (excluding marination time)