Bong Connection Seafood

Kakrar Jhal(Bengal style crab curry)

Crabs make one of the tastiest meals. This curry is typically from the heart of Bengal  situated on the banks of river Ganges and eastern part of India, North of the Bay of Bengal

I had an opportunity to taste this wonderful curry when I visited a beautiful sea beach called Mandarmoni nearby.
We had the crab curry on the beach itself on a shack where the wife of a coconut seller cooked for us. It was appealing, aromatic, and spicy..The flavor of this dish entirely comes from the flavor of the sea imbibed in the crabs, freshly hand-ground spices in stone, and of course the love and dedication of the chef.
The crabs from Bengal are brownish-grey in color. There are small crabs also which are bright red but they do not contain much meat but all types of crabs are full of flavors.

The crabs shown in this post are from the Arabian Sea on the West coast of my country as I stay in Mumbai. They look beautiful with brown spots.
Ingredients
  1. Crabs (medium  4 to 5 cleaned)
  2. Cumin seeds(1 tbsp)
  3. Coriander seeds(1 tbsp)
  4. Red chilies(4 to 5)
  5. Garlic (4 to 5 cloves)
  6. Ginger(1 inch)
  7. Onions(2 sliced fine)
  8. Turmeric powder(1/2 tsp)
  9. Salt (as per taste)
  10. Green chilies(3 to 4 split)
  11. Coriander leaves( for garnish)
  12. Oil(3 to 4 tbsp)(traditionally mustard oil)
Preparation
  1. Marinate the crabs with salt and turmeric.
  2. Shallow fry them in oil, till they turn a bright red color.
  3. Take them off from the pan and in the same pan fry onions golden brown.
  4. Make a paste of red chilies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, ginger, and garlic in a grinder or with mortar and stone.
  5. Add the paste to the fried onions in the pan.
  6. saute for few minutes.
  7. Add the crabs and saute. Add 1/2 cup of water and green chilies and cover cook till the mixture is semi-dry.
  8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.
Print

Kakrar jhal

Crabs make one of the tastiest meals. This curry is typically from the heart of Bengal  situated on the banks of river Ganges and eastern part of India, North of the Bay of Bengal
Course Main Course
Cuisine East Indian
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 persons
Author indrani

Ingredients

  • Crabs medium 4 to 5 cleaned
  • Cumin seeds 1 tbsp
  • Coriander seeds 1 tbsp
  • Red chilies 4 to 5
  • Garlic 4 to 5 cloves
  • Ginger 1 inch
  • Onions 2 sliced fine
  • Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
  • Salt as per taste
  • Green chilies 3 to 4 split
  • Coriander leaves for garnish
  • Oil 3 to 4 tbsp(traditionally mustard oil)

Instructions

  1. Marinate the crabs with salt and turmeric.
  2. Shallow fry them in oil, till they turn a bright red color.
  3. Take them off from the pan and in the same pan fry onions golden brown.
  4. Make a paste of red chilies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, ginger, and garlic in a grinder or with mortar and stone.
  5. Add the paste to the fried onions in the pan.

  6. saute for few minutes.
  7. Add the crabs and saute. Add 1/2 cup of water and green chilies and cover cook till the mixture is semi-dry.
  8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.

Aboutindrani

Indrani Sen is a teacher,lecturer in Information Technology/Computer Science for the past 12 years. She has authored 4 text books in Information Technology.
She is passionate about cooking and loves to blog about food and travel.This blog is like my baby as I have built it from scratch by myself with little help from colleagues ,friends and of course Google.

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