Lal Kankrar Jhal (Crab in Red Hot Sauce)

Easy availability of Alaskan crabs has turned crabs from a rare delicacy to a common staple at our household. My daughter never lets us skip it on the grocery trips. I have posted bunch of crab recipes but most were from the other coasts of India. This is a traditional Bengali recipe.

Ingredients

1. 2lb. crab (I got crab claws)
2. 2tbsp. onion paste
3. 1tbsp. garlic paste
4. 1tbsp. dry red chili paste
5. 1/2tsp. turmeric powder
6. 1tbsp. chopped green chilies
7. 1tbsp. ginger cut into thin strips
8. 2tbsp. tamarind pulp
9. 1tsp. yellow mustard paste
10. 5-6 green chilies slit lengthwise
11. 1tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
12. 200gms. mustard oil
13. 1tsp. sugar
14. Salt to taste
15. Whole garam masala for tempering
    1. 2 green cardamom
    2. 1” cinnamon stick
    3. 2-3 cloves

Procedure

Take crab and cut into halves. The legs need to be crushed a bit. This is done so that the spices and salt gets into the juicy flesh.

Now heat mustard oil in a pan and toss the crab pieces. The color of the crab will turn vibrant orange. Remove and set aside.

Temper the same oil with whole garam masala. Wait till the oil becomes fragrant. Lower the heat and add garlic paste to it. Sauté for 2-3 minutes before you add onion and red chili paste to it.Drop chopped green chilies. Fry everything together on low  heat. Now add turmeric powder, salt and sugar one by one. stir continuously till you cook out their raw smell. If required you may sprinkle little water so that the spices don’t get burnt.

Add fried crab pieces to it and mix well so all sides of the crab pieces are nicely coated with spices. Throw the ginger sticks in. Now add a cup of water and simmer it covered for about 10 minutes. Add mustard paste and tamarind pulp to it and crank up the heat to high.

Stir everything together till all the moisture evaporates and the oil oozes out from the gravy. Sprinkle garam masala powder and slit green chilies.

Serve with plain hot rice.