Kakrar jhal (spicy crab dry curry) recipe.
This one is not a regular in my kitchen. But with Durga Puja celebrations, something not-so-regular had to come up! 'Kakra' means crab in Bengali and 'jhal' means a fiery gravy that's not too runny. This style of crab preparation is the most common one for Bengalis. In this dish, crab is cooked in onion and a few spices with chilli being the predominant flavour. Some recipes call for adding chunks of potatoes in this dish; however, I prefer to skip it.
To make this crab curry, I first clean the crab well and cut it into quarters. I then fry onions until they are golden brown, and then add ginger, garlic and cook. I add ttomatoes and powdered spices next (with red chilli powder being the main spice) and cook until the tomatoes are completely done. I add the cleaned crab to this along with just a little water (just enough to cook the crab). Remember this curry is not runny and does not have a lot of gravy/sauce in it. The crabs will be cooked in about 15-20 minutes. I then increase the flame to dry out any moisture. Fiery crab curry is ready!
A spicy, fiery, chilli hit that will leave you drooling. This dish needs to be made very spicy – chilli is the main flavour here. Serve kakrar jhal with steamed rice but it tastes best with mishti pulao (sweet pilaf) to balance the chilli hit.
Click here for sweet pulao recipe.
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For more meat recipe, click here.
Kakra jhal
Ingredients
- 2 crabs (I used blue swimmer crab)
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 dry red chilli
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp red chilli powder or as per taste
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 3 tbsp oil
- A few coriander leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Wash the crab. Remove shell and clean in running water (remove everything except the white meat). Cut into quarters. Set aside
- Heat a large frying pan and add oil.
- Add the onion and fry until golden brown
- Add the ginger, garlic and saute for a minute
- Add tomato, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and mix well. Cook until the tomatoes are completely done and oil separates
- Add the crab and mix gently. Add half cup of hot water, cover and cook on low heat till the crab is completely done (about 20 minutes)
- Remove cover, increase heat and cook till the water dries up and oil separates
- Turn off the heat. Add garam masala and mix well
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