CrabCake & CrabFry /Njandu cake and NjanduFry

Today i am going to share with u guys something special. That's a seafood - Crab-cake. Crab-cake is just like the cutlet prepared with crab meat. I don't know how many of you are aware of this dish,it's a very delicious food.
During the travel we always love to have food from different restaurants.I hardly prefer seafood from outside because in restaurants they do not add that much spice as we used to do and also they do not cook as much as we do. My husband love to taste any food. He loves experience new dishes(sometimes we  could have  order another dishes(because of the new dish taste) too).
We tasted this crab cake from Fisherman-wharf (Pier 39) in San Francisco.San Fransisco is one of the beautiful place in USA (It has the tropical weather similar to Kerela). Lot many attractions are there. The Pier 39 is one of them.In the fisherman wharf there are lot of street-side food shops, especially sea-food shops (like our thattukada). One of the best demanded items are "Crab-cake" and the seafood platter..Here i am attaching the picture of SFO pier 39.Its best place to enjoy,the main attarctions are the bay aquarium,fishermanwharf,cruises,wax Museum,Sea lions,shopping and eating..if u have enough time just walk from the pier 39 to pier 48 enjoy the beautiful views as well as the shops,food  etc.
When we visited SFO as a part of experimenting new dishes my husband  tried this crab-cake.Usually he won't compel me to eat any seafood item if it is an experiment but when he tried this crab-cake he told me to try that.when i tasted i really loved that and had 2 set of crab cake..That day onwards crab-cake became one of our favorite.

When I saw the Joyful Eating Whilst Traveling event, I was trying to find a dish for this event. My hus only suggested this crab-cake ..so i decided to go with this delicious food. Google found paula deen's crab cake recipe for me. finally i prepared the crab-cake and  the result was awesome.we really enjoyed having it.. I am always thankful to my fellow bloggers because of these events (we experiment new ideas and recipes and try our best to prepare these food to get good outcome).

Here I am going to share one more  simple recipe: that's "Crab fry. Let me explain how we make the delicious crab-cake and crab fry.

Here we go with the crab cake:

Ingredients
Crab meat: 1 pound
Ritz crackers: 5 tbsp
Green Onions: 3 count
Bell Pepper: 1/2 portion of a medium size
Mayonnaise:4tbsp
egg: 1 no
Worcestershire sauce: 1 tsp
Mustard:1 tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
Salt: enough
Pepper Powder: 1 tsp
Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Flour : for dusting
Oil: for frying
For the Dipping sauce
Mayonnaise: 1 tbsp
Chili sauce: 1/2 tbsp
Preparation

Step1

• Chop the green onion into very small pieces(use both white and green part)
• Chop the bell pepper into thin pieces
• Crush the Ritz crackers
• If u do not have Worcestershire sauce just add 1 tsp of wine and 1 tsp of chili powder.

Step2:

• In a large bowl add all the ingredients except flour and oil.The mix should be in the consistency of cutlet mix.

Step3:

• Make oval shaped patties from the mix.dust the patties with the flour.
• Heat oil in a pan.Fry the patties until golden brown.
• Place the fried crab cakes on a kitchen tissue.
• Mix the Mayonnaise and Chili sauce in a small bowl and use this as a dipping sauce.

The delicious Crab cake is ready to serve.Have it with the dipping sauce

Cook's tip

• Do not add any water while mixing the ingredients.
• If the mix is not in the correct consistency  just add some bread slices into it.
• If u don't find the sauce replace it with 1 tbsp wine and 1tbsp pepper powder
• U can shallow fry the crab patties instead of deep frying..
• Be careful by changing the sides of the crab cake while frying
• The crab meat will be available in all grocery stores meat/seafood counter.

Sending this Crabcake to Jagruti's Joyful Eating Whilst Traveling event.

Crab Fry/Njandu Fry

We both love eating crab dishes. This Crab fry is really simple  and very delicious one too It's a very healthy seafood,good source of calcium.Let me share the preparation steps of this wonderful dish
Ingredients
Crab legs:2 nos (Try to use King Crab Legs)
Ginger: 1 medium size
Garlic:6 pods
Pearl Onion/Re Onion:10 nos/1/2 portion of a medium sized
Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp
Chili Powder: 2 tbsp
salt : to taste
Cloves: 2 nos
Cinnamon: 1 small portion
Cardamom: 1 no
Fennel seeds: 1 tsp
Pepper : 4 nos
Coriander Powder: 2 tbsp
Preparation 

• Cut the crab legs into medium size pieces (1 inch length). Just wash it with lemon juice.
• Make a nice paste of all the ingredients. Marinate the crab and keep it for 30-1 hour.
• Heat oil in a pan and fry it until done (the crab became brown in color).

The Delicious Njandu fry is ready to have..Have it with Rice

Cook's Tip

• If u r using the whole crab just cut them into  small pieces .
• Wash with lemon juice.

Crab Masala/Njandu curry

In our God's own country the crab is known as Njandu...Its a very tasty dish but not quiet easy to cook...Here in USA we can find this crab in all grocery shop.If  you are going to chinese shop you can find the fresh and live one..That would make the dish more tastier..Really i got this recipe from My Aunt and she is a very good cook especially her njandu curry and konchu pollichathu is our favorite..When i first tried this recipe frankly speaking it was a flop..while doing it frequently i got the idea ...we should know the way of cooking the crab then only we can make a good curry with this crab..

Its one of my favorite dish ...We are not buying it every week..but whenever we find good crab(my hus knows) we suddenly grab a pound or two...We usually buy the King Crab legs...Best one we found is at Costco and Kroger...But make sure that its not too old before buying..

Cost of the item : 11.99/pound

Cooking time: 30-45 minute

Ingredients

Crab leg : 1 pound

Onion : 1 big/2 medium

Ginger : 1 medium size

Garlic : 4 cloves

Green chili: 3 nos

Tomato : 1 no 

Chili Powder : 2 tsp

Coriander Powder 4tsp

Pepper Powder  : 1 tsp

Fenugreek powder : 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida : a pinch

Salt : to taste

For seasoning

Mustard Seeds: 1tsp

Red chili : 1 no

Curry leaves : 5 or 6 leaves

Oil : 4 tsp

Preparation

1. First wash the crab legs 3-4 times in medium hot water..Just scrub the sides with clean scrubber..Be careful not to cut with the sharp edgesf of  the legs

2.Cut the legs into medium size pieces as shown in the picture

3 Marinate the pieces with 2 tsp lemon juice, turmeric powder and salt..Keep it for 30-1 hour..

4.Heat oil in a pan.Once it get heated add the mustard seed,Once the seeds started spluttering add the red chili and curry leaves let it saute for some time..then add the ginger garlic and the green chili.

5.Add the thinly sliced onions in to it..Let the onions fry for 15- 20 minute in medium heat .Stir occasionally.

6.Once the oil get seperated from the onion add the Powders one by one...

7.Then add the crab pieces into it..stir continously for 5 to 7 minute...

8.Add one/two cups of water into the mix...If u like more gravy add 2 cups of water otherwise just one cup is enough.

9.Let the mix and cook for 15 -20 minutes in medium heat...

  The mouthwatering Crab masala is ready to serve..Garnish with some curry leaves....

Points to ponder

• fry the onion completely...
• Adding more water will spoil the curry so be careful..add the water according the quantity of the mixture .