Total cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Crabs: 6
Grated and roasted dry coconut: 1 bowl
Onion: 1
Ginger: 1 inch
Garlic: 4-5 cloves
Oil: 4-5 tbsp
Green chillies: 3-4
Coriander: 1/2 bowl
Cinnamon: 2 sticks
Cloves: 5-6
Besan: 2 tbsp
Rice flour: 4 tbsp
Tamarind pulp: 1 tsp

Method

• Soak crabs in clean water for about 1/2 hour before starting any preparations. Most of the dirt will be released in this water.
• Split the crab shell and body and wash under running water, wash away grime from beneath the shell and keep cleaned crabs aside.

Preparation

• Chop onion and saute' in about 1 tsp oil till golden brown and keep aside.
  Grind roasted and grated dry coconut, fried onion, ginger, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, green chillies and coriander.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil on a tava stir fry ground masala and keep aside in a bowl.
  Roast besan and rice flour lightly and keep aside.
• Mix the fried and ground masala with roasted besan and rice flour and knead together along with soaked tamarind pulp add salt to taste and keep this dough aside. It will form the filling.
• Fill this dough in split crabs and fasten with a thin thread so that the filling does not spill.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok or kadai, add 2 chopped garlic cloves, red chilli powder and about a cup of water, bring to a boil and put in the stuffed crabs cover and cook for about 20 minutes on low flame.
• Garnish with coriander, onions and lemons.
• These crabs can be eaten with traditional bhakris, or rotis, or even rice.
• If you do not want gravy, let all the water boil off leaving only the stuffed crabs flavored with masala.
• You may also grind thin legs of the crabs together with the masala and add it to the cup of water to form the gravy, this gives more flavor and aroma to the gravy.

Crabs are available in plenty in all coastal areas. They are rich in calcium and are an excellent tonic for people of all age groups.