Crab Sukka/ Kurle Sukke

After almost three months in India, I have gotten so many recipes to share. One of my favorite is this crab sukka. In konkani we call it "Kurle". While visiting mom she was whipping out her delicacies one after the other. This is one of her dishes that I love. Crab was really fresh that day, so dad bought it home. Once Aayi started preparing the curry it was smelling great in the whole house. I was so hungry smelling the dish that I took some quick pictures and sat down to gobble it.

This typical Konkani dish is made in different versions. Sukka or dry version is what I have presented here. You can make more finer paste of coconut paste and use more water and turn it into curry. Now to the recipe.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cooking Time : 20 min | Serves : 6

Recipe Source : My Aayi

Ingredients:

Fresh Crab - 2 lb. / 1 Kg
Onion - 1 medium for frying
Onion - 1/4 cup for blending
Oil - 2 tsp.
Tomato/ green mango - 1 cup *
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp.
Chili Powder - 2 tsp.
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp.
Coconut - 1 cup
Coriander powder - 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Red chilies - 3
Garlic - 5 to 6
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:

~ Clean crabs thoroughly with water. Remove hard shell top part and discard. Break the claw or Dongo. This will be used in the sukka. Rinse it all again and keep it aside.
~ In a heavy bottom vessel, add cooking oil and onion. Fry till onion becomes translucent.
~ Add the cleaned crab and tomato. Cook until nice kurle aroma starts to come (about 5 minutes)
~ Then add turmeric, chili powder and Garam masala powder. Mix them all well.
~ Meanwhile, make dry coarse paste of Coconut, Coriander powder, Mustard seeds, Red chili, Onion, and garlic.
~ Once crab is almost cooked (smells divine) add prepared coconut paste.
~ Add little salt (careful since the shell seafood have salt mostly), mix them all nicely. Crab is ready to be served.

Note: You can use Tamarind paste instead of tomato. Use about a tbsp. of fresh tamarind extract. I have been trying to reduce the usage of tamarind, since it's known to cause severe acidity.