In India, they say the culture changes every after 25 miles. Precisely, why the vast Indian coastline offers such a wide variety of taste and texture when it comes to sea food. And while we praise the coastline with its mouth watering sea food that is sure treat the tastebuds and soul equally, we are also talking about a lot of coconut love affair that is one of the most predominant ingredient in the coastlines and also southern parts of India.
Indian Seafood recipe is incomplete without its generous dose of coconut or a dollop of coconut milk. And amongst the best of Indian seafood recipes rests this authentic coconut crab curry recipe: even the very thought of it makes our mouth water.
From our readers, here’s a little treat to your Indian seafood loving side. Enjoy and of course come and tell us.
Serving Suggestions: The coconut crab curry tastes best with steamed rice, crusty bread and even rotis.
Ingredients:
- 24 small potatoes- the one we use for Dum Aloo
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 10 prickly pear cactus paddles, thorns removed trimmed and cut into 1⁄2″ cubes
- 1 lb. romeritos or spinach, trimmed and washed
- 4 oz. dried heads-on shrimp, peeled, shells and heads reserved
- 4 eggs, separated
- 9 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 and 1⁄2 cups red mole paste
Procedure:
- In a medium pot, put potatoes and cold water with 2 large pinches salt and bring it to a boil. The potatoes should be soft after 20 minutes. Drain, peel, transfer to a large bowl, and set aside.
- Bring another pot of water to boil and add baking soda and cactus. Cook till soft. This should take about 10-12 minutes. Crain, cool and add to potatoes.
- In a 3rd bowl, heat some water and with salt and boil romeritos or the greens you are using until limp. Cool, chop and add to the potato bowl.
- In 2 cups of water in a pan, add shrimp shells and heads. Boil it to make the stock. Let it simmer while you cook romeritos.
- In a pan, add about 2 tsp of oil and fry the shrimps. Transfer it to a blender and process it to a fine paste. To this add yolks n whites. Blend for about 2 minutes.
- In a skillet, heat some oil, and pour about 3 tbsp of batter. Flatten it into a patty and fry golden. This proportion should make about 12-15 pancakes.
- Mix mole and half of the reserved shrimp stock in a blender. Heat 3 tbsp. oil in a medium skillet and add mole mix. Add remaining stock, vegetables and cook.
Assemble
- In an earthenware or heat proof bowl, put 1/3rd of the mixture. Arrange the pancakes or tortas on top. Repeat until all of the gravy has been utilized.
- Cover with a foil and serve at room temperature.
Of course being Indians, we love our food hot. So, you can also heat it a bit before serving.