Goan Crab Curry / Kullyache Tonak
Goan crab curry or kullyache tonak is an authentic Goan crab recipe made with fresh crabs and masala curry made from fresh grated coconut and spices. The crab curry is delicious, with the flavours of the crab and the spicy coconut-based gravy coming together to create an entirely new level of deliciousness.
Servings 4 People
Ingredients
- 4 crabs
- 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
For marinating crabs:
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
For masala gravy:
- 4 dry red chilies (Kashmiri or Byadgi)
- 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
- 4 cloves
- 1 cup freshly grated coconut
- 1/2 inch tamarind
- 1/2 medium sized onion cut length wise
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoon oil
Instructions
- Wash the crabs and cut into big pieces. If the legs are big, cut them into 2 pieces.
- Marinate the crabs by applying red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt and keep them in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Let us make the masala gravy ready:
- Heat a pan and add oil. Add onion and sauté till onion turns pinkish.
- Add coriander seeds, cloves, dry red chillies and sauté.
- Add freshly grated coconut and roast on low flame till coconut turns brownish.
- Now add turmeric powder, tamarind mix and switch off the gas. Let the roasted coconut cool down.
- After the roasted coconut cools down, add it to a mixer or blender jar along with ¾ cup water and make a smooth paste. Do not add too much water at this point. We can add water later while boiling crabs. Keep the ground paste aside.
- In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil.
- Add finely chopped onion and sauté till onion turns pinkish.
- Now add marinated crabs and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Pour the ground masala from mixer or blender and mix well.
- Add ½ cup water and mix. You may add more water if needed.
- Mix well and simmer on low flame for 10-15 minutes with the pan covered with lid.
- Add salt to taste and mix well.
- Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with rice, phulkas or Goan pav(bread).
Video
Notes
- While adding salt in curry, remember to add carefully as salt has been added while marinating crabs.
- While boiling crabs in curry, be careful. If you boil for too long, the crab meat will get dissolved in the curry.
- Use blue crabs or hard rock crabs in this recipe. Avoid using soft shell crabs.
- In Goan curries, we add tamarind. But in this crab curry add very less tamarind.
- For this recipe, use fresh crabs. When purchasing crabs, hold them and press gently underneath the hard shell to check if it's firm. Additionally, give them a sniff to ensure they don’t have an unpleasant odour and are not stale or spoiled.