Crabs ‘Jatpat’ Masala

(One may call it, Quickie-Kurlie or Jaldi-Jenji!)

Winter months are time for meaty crabs. With longer nights and shorter days, it is believed that in darkness, crabs meat fills up and its taste goes up.

This winter was a bit unusual in Bahrain (and whole of Gulf region), with extra chilly winds! The Christmas season was full with the meats ? the Turkey and the other regular stuff. So in a way, for the tired souls, it was time to do something different. So we hit upon this recipe and came out with something quite quick and yummy.
 
(My husband tried using some cricketing terms to describe it ? a quickie, a flipper, a faster one etc. While he was busy naming it, kids just enjoyed eating it! They said: Dad, just eat it!!)

Its indeed very fast to cook, with no grinding of masala. It turned out to be a good ethnic meal on a cold n windy afternoon. But surely, one needs time to eat it!)

How we did it?

1 kg Crabs (approx 5-7) clean and cut into halves.

Ingredients:

1 onion big (cut into slices)
1 tomato big (cut into slices)
2 tsp ginger?garlic paste
2 tsp pepper crushed
? tsp turmeric powder

Cooking Method:

In a pan, take a little sunflower oil and fry onion slices, and when they turn brownish, add tomato slices and fry for a while (3-4 minutes). Add ginger-garlic paste, crushed pepper, turmeric powder and a pinch of salt and mix it well. Remember, crabs are already salty, so limit your salt input. Now add the cleaned n cut crabs to this masala with half a cup of water and cook on slow fire, mixing well in between till it is done to your liking, approximately for 10 -12 minutes.

We had this dish with simple plain boiled rice, spicy rasam and guess what? fried slice of black Pomfret (Sorungul in Konkani or Maanji in Tulu). See it yourselves, no more words to add!!

A recipe with love from
Wilma’s Kitchen
(Photos & report edits from Agnel Pereira)

Author: Wilma Pereira- Bahrain