On a drab Sunday in June we turned to Sri Lanka for crab inspiration. Writing this a week on, I can’t quite imagine making curry in June, it’s too warm for that. Long may it last…
This month’s food extravaganza was a bit of a departure for me – I had a guest helper, my lovely Spanish friend, Isaac, who’s a whizz in the kitchen and made a delicious starter of scallops with onion and lardon in a pastry pie. Delish. He also helped with the crabs, which I’d found rather daunting.
Scallop pie
Isaac’s starter was a big success and was a fantastic, light option ahead of the main course. First he fried the onion and garlic and then added the lardons and roughly chopped scallops. Then I rolled out a couple of sheets of readymade puff pastry, one lined the backing tray and other was laid on top once the mixture was added in the middle, then the pie edges were sealed.
It was gobbled up within minutes of of being set on the table – only time for a quick picture!
Sri Lankan crab curry
After a bit of research, I settled on Elra’s recipe, which had lots of positive comments and looked like it would deliver sure-fire success. Indeed, it was delicious and passed my brother’s tough taste test.
To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed, but more with myself than the recipe. My challenge for the year is to cook shellfish once a month, but there’s no doubt that Isaac did the clear majority of the work, while I stood by as willing photographer (although many of the pictures here are provided by @littlezaltz).
I made the curry paste and did the actual cooking, but when it came to the crab, Isaac took the lead. This is totally my fault. I was so busy watching what he was doing and cooking the curry, I forgot to get stuck in and do it myself! Grrr. Note to self: don’t do this again!
Anyway, I am eternally grateful to Isaac for his help, because I probably would have otherwise caused my guests to choke on crabshell if it had been left to me!
We went to Brixton Market on Saturday and we went to Isaac’s fishmonger (which is next to Francamanca pizza place) and got 4 crab at £4 each – bargain! I never fail to be amazed at how reasonably priced shellfish is if you cook it yourself, rather than getting it at a restaurant.
We kept them in the fridge overnight, which did give me the fear overnight that they’d find their way out of the fridge and up to our bedroom. Fortunately this didn’t happen. Isaac then came over early to help get them ready for cooking; I made a video of the crabs going in the pot, but I’m not (yet) prepared to pay $60 to be able to add them to the blog, so we’ll have to make do with pictures for now.
Crabs, we salute you for your self-sacrifice. We ate you well.
Once cooked, Isaac them got to work breaking them down for the curry. Note of warning for those wanting to cook this, or any other crab recipe: leave any OCD tendencies at the door, remember you can clean everything later.
And after a lot, lot of work, here’s the crab claws and other bits ready to go in the curry.
The curry paste itself was very easy to make – at its base: garlic, ginger, onion and grated coconut. I was doubling all the quantities but I didn’t use all the coconut milk that was recommended – it would have made the sauce too thin and overly sweet. And if I had one fault with the recipe, it was that the sauce was too sweet for me (although no one else seemed to have this problem).
And here’s the result! I served the curry with rice and I cooked some green beans in the same style as the bombay potatoes I made to go with April’s tandoori prawns (fry mustard and cumin seeds, chilli powder, turmeric and curry leaves then add the vegetable you’re using).
And no, it didn’t look that way for long – demolished within minutes!
And to finish? Eaton Mess (a nod to the fact we were eating in Britain!), which was a nice refresher after the curry.
What’s next?
Hardshell crab was a concession to my friend @kane2kane who’s been badgering me for hardshell for months. I’m still keen to do softshell at somepoint but think I’m going to have to do a lot more research to find out where I can get it in London (I’m hoping I’m not going to have to get up at the crack of dawn to go to Billingsgate, although that would be an experience in itself).
But July is almost upon us and it’s time to turn to a new shellfish. I’m thinking octopus and/or squid (I refer you to BBC Food for confirmation of shellfish status). I cannot wait. I’ve been reading a lot of Ottolenghi recipes in the Guardian and am inspired. I must start looking for dates in the diary….who’s coming?
oneshellfishamonth 