crab

[mongo_jones]

this thread is inspired by a comment vikram made in another thread. to wit:

That delicate flavour of crabmeat, for example, is killed by most Indian recipes. What works are smaller crabs, where you can get a subtle delicious crab from the whole creature, and don't really need to bother extracting the flesh. Bombay restaurants often wave monstrous meaty crabs at you, and these are really best eaten in their butter-pepper-garlic style which isn't that Indian really. Its a total waste to eat them cooked in most masalas.

and also follows from my recommendation, in various threads, of the crab butter-pepper-garlic at the restaurant swaagath in new delhi--most recently, talked about here.

so, here's my questions:

1. is vikram right? do most indian recipes kill crab?

2. what are the antecedents of the butter-pepper-garlic preparation?

i have an answer for question 1, and here it is:

i disagree--i don't think most indian recipes kill the taste of crab. i think it is a question of how you come to what the definitive crab taste-experience is supposed to be. as someone all of whose early exposure to crab was through bengali freshwater "kankra" curries i've always been underwhelmed by the (american?) approach to crab of just steaming it and eating it with butter. crab for me is best when a recipe preserves its cool texture and aroma but places it in a seemingly antithetical spicy environment (any minute now i'm going to bust out some hegel). most of the crab i've eaten in india (and also in some korean recipes) follows this principle*. then again maybe my indian crab experience is not representative--i haven't eaten too many south indian takes on it.

*i also really enjoy takes on the classic bolognese sauce substituting crab for the ground beef-pork. first saw this on iron chef, tried it at home to good effect.

[anil]

In Mumbai, the folks at Gajali,Trishna,Mahesh Lunch Home have brought a live crab and then asked how one wanted it cooked - Ofcourse my favourite is malvani. Another is just cooked , rather steamed and the sauteed with garlic and black pepper. On the other hand, I have tasted soft-shell crabs fast fried as bhajjia (but that's not something I've had in recent years)

Now, those King Crab legs in Seattle -- YummYumm !!!!

[Episure]

The Butter Pepper Garlic crab was 'invented' at Trishna about six years ago.

Trishna is a Mangalorean eatery at Kalaghoda, Fort, Bombay which started off by serving 'home' food to their homesick brethren who used to be employed in this commercial hub of Bombay.

The restaurant became famous for it's sea food notably Crabs which were immediately lapped up by the Parsi community of South Bombay. The Parsis are quite known for their Crab eating habits and are often called 'Kekda Khau'. Next to follow were the Members of the Royal Yacht club nearby.

But, their Crab had only one style and that is the 'Ghashi' gravy. At some stage they added Punjabi cuisine to their Menus and the Tandoor was also put to use in grilling this Crustacean.

This heavily spiced Crab ( the Tandoori worse than the Ghashi) soon lost it's novelty factor and somebody thought it ought to go well sauted in Butter and Garlic. As an afterthought Pepper was added to add some zing to it.

Trishna and it's ilk - Mahesh, Apurva, Modern.... soon discovered that this niche market attracted the well heeled glitterati and decided to go upscale. The restaurants were renovated and airconditioned and the menu prices raised. And thus was born this version which is now famous throughout the country.

Recipe:

Take a large crab, give it an orange colour makeover ( Boil), crack it at sections and put it in a large wok with 100 g butter. Saute, tossing it with the lid closed for a few minutes and then add 2 tbsps. chopped Garlic and freshly cracked Pepper as per your taste. Toss it for another minute and serve it hot.

There is nothing new to the recipe, it's just that Crab became more fashionable in these small joints rather than the five star Hotels. One would have thought that it should have been the other way round.

Some new variations include the use of Tirfan, Basil, Ajwain instead of Pepper.

[Monica Bhide]

I have some excellent recipes that dont kill the taste of crab but rather really bring it out. I do like this version of crab that Episure has posted. I think I first read it when it was published in Femina (which by the way just publsihed my first piece of work for an Indian publication!) - and tried it. ITs really good. OFcourse the preparations at Mahesh are wonderful too.

I have tried the Tawa Crab from CHef Prasad - Thali which our whole family loved. Recently in doing some research on Indian seafood recipes I have also landed on various local Mumbai recipes for crab. Soon to be posted here

[bague25]

Episure

This is exaclty how I make my shrimp (scampi). Somtimes I vary by adding lemon zeste. I also have used herbs like coriander, rosemary, tarragon and chives (only one herb)

In Brussels, in most bistros, the menu will almost always have, as hot starters, scampi made in 3-4 different sauces and this is one of the sauces (although less peppered than we're used to) sometimes with additions of tomato puree and a touch of cream and various herbs.

I'll now try the same with crab. Thanks

Edited April 7, 2004 by bague25 (log)

[Episure]

Episure

This is exaclty how I make my shrimp (scampi). Somtimes I vary by adding lemon zeste. I also have used herbs like coriander, rosemary, tarragon and chives (only one herb)

In Brussels, in most bistros, the menu will almost always have, as hot starters, scampi made in 3-4 different sauces and this is one of the sauces (although less peppered that we're used to) sometimes with additions of tomato puree and a touch of cream and various herbs.

I'll now try the same with crab. Thanks

Bague,

You and I think alike. I am going to share some recipes with you, PM me your email id.