Kappa, ulli neeru and Fish head curry - Yum Yum Yum

Chicken drumstick fry

Shrimp, Prawns and et al

I love crustaceans! I don't like crabby behavior but I sure do love to eat' em.

Here is a shrimp recipe I do quite often as its quick and easy and deeelicious!

Set 1:
Prawns/Shrimps (I use large ones, medium is too small and extra large is too big)
Dry garam masala - cloves, cardamom, cinnamon 2 each
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 4 or 5

Saute all ingredients in Set 1 with the exception of Prawns till the raw smell goes away. Don't let garlic burn though.

Set 2:
Red onions - 1 OR
Shallots - 8
Tomato - 1 thinly sliced or tomato puree or paste or sun dried tomato(each of them gives diff flavor)
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup (optional)
Green chillies slit - 5 or 6 (adjust per taste. I love more of these than chilli powder)

Now add all ingredients in set 2 and continue to saute.

Set 3:
chilli powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 1/2 tbsp
Black pepper powder - 1 tbsp
garam masala - 1 tbsp

Add the prawns now to the mixture and also the ingredients in Set 3 and saute till prawns turn pink. U can add a little water if mixture is too dry but don't add too much as it will not be good. This has to finally be a semi-dry dish and remember that prawns ooze out a bit of liquid too.

Leave covered till prawns are cooked. Adjust salt. In a small pan add 2 tbsp coconut oil, about 5-6 sliced shallots and curry leaves, saute and add to the prawns. U can skip this step if u are not used to coconut oil, but it sure makes the dish tastier. Don't forget to sprinkle coriander leaves. Enjoy.

Yummy Crab Roast

I started this blog with the idea of sharing my enthusiasm about weight loss and food.. My principle - To eat well and exercise well. I don't believe in depriving myself of all the yummy foods God has provided us with...Just like this one...I've always eaten crabs in seafood festivals(I wait every year for these festivals soon after Spring arrives), Red Lobster and Maryland trips...Never cooked it at home until last year...




First attempt - I got over confident and got live blue crabs 6 of them from the Chinese supermarket and successfully got them home. Then came the ordeal. I tried holding onto one with a towel and whack it with a cleaver. The crab got smarter and it clawed me..I tried shaking it off, but found that another crab was clawing onto this one and another to that one and here i was trying to shake off 3 crabs...What a nightmare! I screamed against all my claim that I don't scream under any circumstance! A friend finally helped cut them up...I made crab coconut curry and it turned out okay....Recipe will be posted sometime soon. Above are pics of the blue crab I was talking about. I still have the bite mark on my right wrist.



And then I read a few blogs about home cooked crab meat (the bigger crab legs this time, from the the freezer) was encouraged by them and tried this one. It was a smash hit. I made it for my mom who is visiting and tried it a second time as she loved it too.

I know some people are mindful of the fact that eating a lot of crab is not good for cholesterol...so I took the advice of the blog and added a lot of black pepper...I made my own twist to the recipe as i always do...

Ingredients:
Set 1:
Snow crab or Dungeness Crab legs Frozen ( 1 to 1.5 lbs)
1 large red onion sliced thinly
1 tomato thinly sliced
turmeric powder - 1 tsp
chilli powder - 1 tsp
black pepper powder - 2 tsp
green chillies - 5 or 6
minced garlic - 3 pods
minced ginger - 2 tsp
salt

Boil the crab with the other ingredients in Set 1 and once it comes to a boil, simmer it.

Set 2:
shredded coconut - 1 cup
shallots - 2 or 3
perunjeeragam - 1 tbsp
black pepper - 1 tbsp
red chillies - 3 -4 nos
coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
curry leaves - 3 or 4

Now roast the ingredients in Set 2 and then grind them well together.

Add the ground paste to the crab and increase the heat and let it all come to a boil. Add 1 tbsp garam masala powder to perk up the spices. Simmer to necessary consistency/thickness.

Set 3:
coconut oil - 2 tbsp
sliced shallots - 7 to 8 nos
mustard seeds
curry leaves - 5-6

In a small frying pan, take some coconut oil and fry ingredients in Set 3 and once the aroma comes out add to crab mixture..Adjust for salt and add coriander leaves as garnish. Tasty crab ready. You can eat it right away as we all did!

I will definitely suggest getting king crab legs or dungeness crab legs instead of the small live ones as you don't have to struggle with them and the meat is also in abundance in the former types. I slightly break 'em up with the cleaver and sometimes pull out out some meat out of the shell so all spices marry well with the meat.Here is a picture of the entire meal - served with another favorite of mine - Asparagus!