A little background...
This dish hails from the coasts of southern India where blue crabs abound in the waters of the Indian Ocean. Specifically, the portunis segnis. Although their common name is the African Blue Swimming Crab, they are native to the Indian Ocean.
This local ingredient has spawned many a spicy culinary rendition of which the crab kolambu might just be a staple and extremely popular choice among the locals.
The dish is usually spicy and hot and expected to have sinus clearing effect on the consumer. But never does it keep eaters at bay. It’s that good!
The recipe involves whole and ground spices, onions, tomatoes, coconut paste, poppy seeds and more. Definitely an indulgent dish fit for celebrations and festivals.
Of course, it goes without saying that the following recipe does not demand the blue crab of the western Indian Ocean! I’ve made this dish with any local crab I can get my hands on – Alaskan King crabs, blue crab from the eastern US, sometimes even the ones from the Asian market that were purportedly shipped all the way from Asia. This dish never fails to hit the spot and can mimic the original very closely.
Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a pan; when hot, add onions, green chilies, curry leaves, cilantro and ginger/garlic paste.
2. Cook until the onions becomes translucent, mix well.
3. Add turmeric, chili powder, garam masala and salt.
4. Cook until the spices no longer smell raw and the mixture turns into a saucy consistency. Continue stirring occasionally.
5. Add tomatoes and cook until they break down and integrate well with the rest of the gravy.
6. Add the cleaned and prepped crabs to the mixture, mix well and cook covered on medium – low heat for 30-45 mins. Keep stirring the pot periodically (There should be sufficient water in this dish without adding any extra. But, for a thinner sauce, you may add a small portion of water. As per your liking.)
7. Meanwhile, in a blender grind half of the grated coconut into a fine paste, then add the poppy seeds (drained) and grind again into a fine paste. Add the remaining grated coconut and complete grinding to a fine paste.
8. At the end of the 30-45 minute period (step 6.), add the grated coconut/poppy seed paste to the crabs and mix well.
9. Allow the mixture to “boil” for 5 mins. Depending on the consistency needed, add water, mix and allow boiling for proper integration of spices with the crab.
10. Adjust salt and chili powder as needed for taste.
11. Once “gravy” reaches preferred consistency, turn off the stove. Serve hot with white rice.
Ingredients:
- Crabs: 1 ½ lbs (approximately 6 medium-sized), cleaned – Pro Tip: Remove legs from the shell, save all the legs. Outer shell should also be removed and inside cleaned well.
- Vegetable cooking Oil: 8 tablespoons
- Onions: 1 medium-sized chopped
- Green Chilies*: 2 medium-length
- Curry leaves: 1 strand (use only leaves separated from stick)
- Cilantro: 1 hand-full, chopped
- Ginger paste: 2 tablespoon
- Garlic paste: 2 tablespoon
- Turmeric Powder: ½ teaspoon
- Cayenne Chili Powder*: 1 ½ teaspoon
- Garam Masala*: ½ teaspoon
- Tomatoes: 3 medium-sized
- Coconut: 3/4th cup, grated
- White poppy seeds: 2 tablespoons (soak in warm water for 2 hours; easier to grind)
- Salt: 1 ¼ teaspoon
Side Notes and Chef Tips:
To cool off, typically, this dish is usually accompanied by a yoghurt-based side or a fresh salad. A quick raita can do the trick. A simple salad of raw veggies also serves the purpose. But, of course, you could get more fancy and add a few more full-fledged meat and veggie sides (something crispy, something fried, something mild.. the list is endless) to take this feast to the next level!
On this particular day, when this picture was taken, I served this amazing dish with white rice, rasam (recipe coming soon), plain yoghurt, appalams (papad) and a side of egg omelets (recipe incoming for this one too) for the folks who weren’t seafood fans in the family (shocking but true 
) and it sure was a hit!
Interesting Tidbit From Childhood
Per our trend around here, I have an interesting memory around this dish from my childhood. This story actually comes from Sylvia (my sister who also gave us this awesome biriyani recipe: Sylvia’s Biriyani Recipe). As you’ve read in many of my blog posts about our childhood in Chennai, India, we lived in the heart of Chennai city in a microscopic apartment. Meat dishes were only made and served once a week, atmost twice. We subsisted on a mostly vegetarian diet. Biriyani and other such complex menu items were reserved solely for special occasions. This crab kolambu fell into that same category.
This one time, I cannot recall the occasion and neither can Sylvia, mommy Rita made Crab Kolambu. We feasted on it all through that lovely Sunday! The leftovers were gathered into a tiny bowl and the pot was cleaned (but not before going through the entire thing with a few healthy servings of rice to pick up the last bits of delicious sauce from the pot).
The next day, we went to school. School day was uneventful and we were coming back home. Unbeknownst to me and my parents, my sister had been dreaming the entire day about the delicious crab kolambu we had consumed the previous day and the sacred leftovers in that small bowl. She had made a plan to polish that off as an evening snack the minute we got home from school.
The moment we entered our house, she went scouting for the bowl of leftover crab kolambu. To her utter dismay, it was nowhere to be found. Not in the fridge, not on the counter, not near the stove. She started panicking. After a little more frantic searching, she inquired where the bowl went.
My mom replied, very casually, “Oh I gave it away to the maid so she could taste the dish”. Sylvia was utterly crushed and had that feeling that I’m sure we’ve all felt at least once in our lifetimes… that figurative ‘blob of ice cream fell splat on the floor and was lost forever!’ moment.
Needless to say the rest of that evening went sourly for her. I obviously have a vague recollection at-best of this incident. But my sister, however, still carries this hurt around like a badge 🎖️ and always makes sure that she makes enough for three days so no one in the family ever has to go through what she did back in the 1980s ever again 😂 I call that a Win-Win!
Closing comments..
Anyhoo…jokes aside, I hope you try out this recipe and get to enjoy it as much as I did and continue to do. Also, how many of you have had the ‘icrecream on the floor’ moment(s) in their lives? Comment below with yours!
Happy cooking and fun eating!
