Photo: Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Maharashtra · Dinner

Crab Masala

Whole Mumbai blue crabs cracked open and simmered in an onion-coconut masala with kokum and Malvani spices. Eaten with bare hands — cracking the shells and sucking the masala from every crevice is half the pleasure. A Koli fishermen's Friday night dinner.

🧺 Ingredients

• 1 kg fresh crabs (Mumbai blue crab or stone crab), cleaned — shells cracked at the joints, claws cracked, body halved
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 medium onions (200 g), finely sliced
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 5 kokum petals, soaked in 60 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 150 ml water
• 1 cup (90 g) fresh grated coconut
• 5 Kashmiri red chillies, soaked
• 3 Bedgi chillies, soaked
• 1.5 tsp coriander seeds, dry-roasted
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 4 peppercorns
• 2 cloves
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 × 1 cm ginger

👩‍🍳 How to make Crab Masala

1. Grind masala (No heat): Blend all masala ingredients into a very smooth, thick, bright red paste.
2. Fry base (Heat: medium): Heat coconut oil. Fry sliced onion on medium for 8 minutes until golden. Add ginger-garlic paste — fry 2 minutes. Add masala paste — fry 6 minutes until oil surfaces.
3. Add water and kokum (Heat: medium): Add strained kokum water, 150 ml water and salt. Bring to a simmer. Taste — the gravy base should be tangy, fragrant and well-spiced.
4. Add crabs (Heat: medium-high): Add all crab pieces. Stir to coat every piece with the masala. The shells will turn bright orange-red within 2–3 minutes. Cover and cook on medium-high for 12–15 minutes, stirring carefully every 4 minutes. Crabs are done when the flesh inside the cracked shells is fully opaque and white (no grey translucency).
5. Reduce gravy (Heat: medium): Uncover and cook 5 minutes on medium to reduce gravy to a thick, coating consistency that clings to the shells.

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