Friday, March 19, 2010

Simple Crab Curry Recipe – Rainy Day’s Catch at the Kepong Baru Wet Market!

It was raining when I woke up last weekend, so I have to wait for the rain to stop before driving out to the Kepong Baru wet market for my weekend marketing. I reached the market rather late, around 9am and saw a thin weekend crowd there. Since there are not many customers around, most of the vendors, especially fishmongers started selling their seafood at a discount. I bought a kilogramme of squid for only RM7 (USD 2). Then I saw my regular fishmonger have some flower crabs left at his stall and he sold them to me for RM1 (USD0.30) each! What a bargain! LOL! Since I have some leftover serai (lemongrass) in my fridge, I thought it would be a good idea to cook crab curry. I did not use santan (coconut milk) in my curry but you can add it to the recipe if you prefer the creamy taste. Curries that are cooked with crab would be full of natural sweetness and my kids love the gravy very much. Here is my Curry Crab recipe.

Ingredients
Crab, 3, cut into halves
Curry powder, 7 table spoons, mixed with a little water to make a paste
Mixed halba, 1 teaspoon
Chilly paste (optional), 1 tablespoon
Santan (coconut milk, optional), from ½ coconut
Lemongrass (Serai), 2 stalks, blend with onions
Onions, 2 pcs, blend with lemongrass
Ladies Fingers (okra) 10 pcs
Tofu pok, 5 pcs, cut into halves
Vegetable oil, 3 table spoons
Curry Leaves, 3 stalks, (optional)
Tamarind, 1 table spoon, soaks in water to make a paste and remove seeds
Salt to taste

Heat up pan and add in vegetable oil. Sautéed lemongrass and onion mixture until fragrant. Add in the curry paste, mixed halba, santan and chilly paste. Fry until nice aroma permeates the air. Add in the curry leaves and ladies fingers. Pour in a little water and bring to a boil. Then add in the crab, tofu pok (deep fried tofu), tamarind juice and salt to taste. Eat with steamed rice, bread, roti chanai or naan!
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

14 comments:

tuti said...

what is halba? i googled also cannot find. hee.
the crab very cheap. lucky day!

Pete said...

tuti : Mixed halba consist of fennel, fenugreek, black mustard seeds, and cumin seeds. Can get at many hypermarkets nowadays or from Indian spices shops.

Anonymous said...

I like crabs cooked with salted egg yolks. And also the ones cooked in marmite sauce. The latter goes well with the fried mantou. Yummy! :)

Love2cook Malaysia said...

OMG, crab curry! My hubby loves this...but his wife never cooked it for him coz she doesn't touch crabs, just the curry alone. How mean could she be! lol! ^___^

Hey, tks for the add. I'll add U too without ur permission. hehehe! ;)

Pete said...

Mei Teng : I like the salted eggs one also...nice!

Love2cook : Thks for the adds too. Have a nice weekend!

Angie's Recipes said...

The crab dish is just beyond delicious!
Halba is something new for me too. Thanks, Pete, for the explanation.

eunice said...

Crabs!!! I just had big n fleshy Sri Lanka chilli crabs! n ppl say Sri Lanka crabs eat corpses dumped in the sea :P

choi yen said...

U stay at Kepong area?

Pete said...

Angie : Crab curry is nice. Have a nice weekend, Angie!

Eunice : That is why the meat is sweet! LOL!

Mimid3vils : Yes, quite near, around 10 minutes drive to there!

Cheah said...

Wow, what a mouth-watering dish. And you got a real bargain!

smallkucing said...

wah lau eh so cheaaaaaaaaaapppppp

cleffairy said...

OMG...so cheap... it's like those ketam sold at pantai Bersih 8 years back. So cheap!

suituapui said...

Yum! Yum! Love crabs! Very expensive here! Mud crabs! Not into sea crabs...

Ayie said...

i have my specialty crab curry..i make it spicy too