Sri Lankan Crab Curry

Name: Sri Lankan Crab Curry
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Sri Lankan Moor
Ingredients: 1 tbsp peanut oil; 2 large onions; 4 garlic cloves; 3 cm piece fresh ginger; 1 small red Thai chile; 4 dried curry leaves; 0.5 tsp fenugreek seeds; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 2 can coconut cream (400 ml); 1 tbsp halal-certified fish sauce; 2 tbsp lime juice; 2 cooked whole mud crabs (1 5/8 kg); 0.5 cup coconut flakes

Gently simmered coconut cream, mud crabs and coconut flakes, warmed with curry leaves and ginger.

1 hr 10 min · Serves 4 · Medium

Method

Start cooking mode

Time: Prep 15 min · Cook 55 min · 70 min total
Difficulty: medium

1
Heat oil in wok, stir-fry onion, garlic, ginger and chilli until onion softens. Add curry leaves and spices, stir-fry until fragrant. Add coconut cream, sauce and juice and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.
30 min
2
Meanwhile, prepare crabs. Lift tail flap of each crab then, with a peeling motion, lift off the back of each shell. Remove and discard the gills, liver and brain matter, rinse crabs well. Cut each body in half and separate claws from bodies. You will have eight pieces.
3
Add half of the crab to the wok, simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until crab is heated through. Transfer crab to large serving bowl, cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining crab pieces.
10 min
4
Spoon curry sauce over crab, sprinkle with coconut.