Gluten freeCaril de caranguejo
Coconut crab curry
Caril de caranguejo: Inhambane-style mud crab in a coconut, tomato and garlic curry
Mud crabs from the mangrove creeks around Inhambane and Maputo Bay end up in this curry at Sunday lunch and on beach-shack menus, and eating it is a happy, messy job with fingers and crackers. The sauce is a gentle Mozambican caril rather than an Indian one: onion, tomato, garlic and a mild curry powder cooked down and finished with coconut milk, so it turns rich, orange and slightly sweet, with crab juices running through it. Serve it with plenty of white rice or xima to mop up the sauce, and lemon wedges on the side. Ask the fishmonger for freshly cooked crabs, cleaned and cracked, or crabs already killed and prepared by them, so there is no live crab to handle at home. Chef's tip: the common mistake is boiling the crab in the sauce for ages, which makes the meat stringy; warm cooked crab through for just a few minutes.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Serves
- 4
- Per serving
- 390 kcal
Ingredients
For the crab
For the curry sauce
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onionsfinely chopped
- 5 cloves garliccrushed
- 1 tbsp fresh gingergrated
- 1 ½ tbsp mild curry powdercheck the label if you need it gluten free
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 4 ripe tomatoeschopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 fresh red chillisliced
- 1 ¾ cups coconut milk
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 handful fresh coriander (optional)chopped
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Check over the 3 ⅓ lb mud crabs: the shells should smell fresh of the sea, with no ammonia. Keep it in the fridge until the sauce is ready.
Step 2: Heat the 3 tbsp sunflower oil in a wide, deep pan over a medium heat and fry the 2 onions until soft and golden at the edges.
10 minStep 3: Add the 5 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp fresh ginger and 1 fresh red chilli and stir for a minute until fragrant, without letting the garlic brown.
1 minStep 4: Stir in the 1 ½ tbsp mild curry powder and ½ tsp ground turmeric and cook for 30 seconds, then add the 1 tbsp tomato paste and cook for a minute more until it darkens.
2 minStep 5: Add the 4 ripe tomatoes and 1 tsp salt and cook over a medium heat, pressing with the spoon, until they collapse into a thick sauce and the oil shines at the edges.
10 minStep 6: Pour in the 1 ¾ cups coconut milk and ½ cup water and simmer gently, uncovered, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
8 minStep 7: Add the crab pieces and turn them in the sauce. Cover and simmer gently until piping hot all through, spooning the sauce over now and then. If your fishmonger gave you raw prepared crab rather than cooked, simmer for 12–15 minutes instead, until every shell is bright red-orange and the meat is white and opaque right through.
6 minStep 8: Squeeze in the juice of half the 1 lemon, taste for salt and scatter over the 1 handful fresh coriander. Serve with the remaining lemon wedges, rice and crackers or a rolling pin for the claws.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 390 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does caril de caranguejo take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of lemon?
- Lime, or 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice per lemon (no zest from bottled juice).
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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