Kitchen Tantra

Nandu Rasam:

Crab Rasam. Kekra-Imili Ki Shorba.

Crab the Power source for Calcium, A great source of vitamin B12 and immunity-boosting zinc! I use something tangy to leach away that calcium into my broth! Tamarind, lemon and tomatoes works well! I always insist upon 'shell crabs' over shell-less! Yeah for calcium and that great flavor! If you got to eat crab.....it should be little hard to fight with your cutting player and hammer!! I love it!!!

Ingredients:

Crab with Shells(preferably)
Tamarind (gooseberry size)
Garlic 1 whole head - peeled and semi crushed
Dry red chilies 6-8 broken
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Whole peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Freshly ground - pepper powder 1 spoon
Freshly ground cumin powder 1 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Soak tamarind pulp in warm water for 20 minutes. Then using your hands...mash it and extract thick milk. Add 2-4 cups of water to this and set aside.

In a deep iron wok, heat few spoons of oil. Add garlic and dry red chilies.

Add washed and cleaned crab, saute for few minutes.

Then add tamarind water. Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder(pepper+cumin powders) to it. Bring this to boil.

Meanwhile....heat a small iron pan. Add oil and wait till its smoky hot. Now add mustard, cumin, whole pepper, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let it pop and splutter well.

Now run this seasoning over the rasam.

Serve steaming hot along with plain steam cooked rice. Good choice during rainy days.

Labels: Crab, Rasam