Sri Lankan Crab Curry

Sri Lankan crab curry combines shell-on crab with a spiced sauce. Nigethan Sithirasegaram’s recipe uses whole cleaned blue swimmer crabs and coconut milk squeezed and strained from grated coconut. Mustard, cumin and fennel seeds, cardamom, onion and garlic form the aromatic base, followed by pandan, curry leaves, cinnamon, roasted Jaffna curry powder and turmeric.^[1]

The crabs cook in the coconut sauce under a lid. Tamarind pulp is separately soaked and strained; its liquid is added near the end with tamari and more ground cumin. The curry is served with steamed rice.^[1]