Saturday, August 05, 2006

Crab balls in Sweet n Sour Gravy or Crab Manchurian??

 















Last couple of days we were literally on a gourmet spree...exploring different cuisines...Portuguese Peri peri chicken(OOps!! Hot...exactly what I wanted!!) and a host of other spicy chicken varieties from 'Nandos',SpanishChicken Paella,meat balls(a little too harmless...quite plain for my palate!) and a host of other recipes,the names of which I cant contain in my mouth,Italian stromboli,ravioli,chicken arrabbiatta,(Great as always!) and a grand finale at Dragon King in Shrewsbury with an amazing buffet of around 42(I counted!!) exotic Chinese,Thai, and Singaporean dishes!!The food was so tempting that we did not think twice to throw all our caution to wind and gorge on the amazing varieties from the East and the West.We were so impressed by the Dragon Buffet that we went again the next day to eat the same buffet...ate so much that we could hardly breathe!!When it comes to food and music we both are perfect partners!!;)

After gorging upon all the amazing variety I still felt like eating more of them...so thought of making some of them at home...To start with I just made some Crab balls(croquets) in a sweet n sour gravy. Meat balls are quite common, so why not crab balls was my logic, and a chinese twist, that wd be very welcome..It tasted very much like Manchurian...A crab Manchurian?....hmmm...but I'm not sure whether there is something called crab manchurian for I have never tasted one, and moreover I dont wish to antagonise the Chinese Puritanists for my recipe might be very un-chinese! I never even knew that there really is some dish called crab croquet until I googled for it after posting my snaps!!Amazing it seems to be quite a common dish in Europe, but of course more traditional and different!!Here is what I did to prepare this very yummy crab dish.Let me tell u one thing that u need some real good quality crab for making the dish or else either u will run short of meat or the crabs do not taste good if they belong to a prehistoric age !!So straight to the recipe:

Ingredients:
Crab meat-250g
Chilli powder-1tsp
Turmeric powder-1tsp
Garlic-5 pods(chopped)
Boiled eggs-2 grated
Egg-1(beaten)
Potato-1 large(cooked and mashed)
Onion-1 (chopped fine)
SweetOrange Pepper-1 chopped
Spring Onion-a bunch-chopped
Green chilli-3 chopped
Tomato Sauce-2tbsp
Chilli sauce-2tbsp
Soya sauce-1 1/2 tbsp
Water-as required
Salt-as reqd
Oil-as reqd
Parsley-a few sprigs
Method:
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Boil the cleaned Crab(remove the poisonous dead man's fingers) with a pinch of salt(you can also cook potato and eggs along with it)till the meat is cooked.(Caution:It may froth n spill out).Now remove the meat from the shell with a fork.Mix the meat with potato,grated boiled egg,chillipowder,tumeric and salt,.Divide into equal portions and roll it into croquets/balls.Heat oil in a wok,deep fry each croquet till golden(Caution:It might burst and splutter...so stay at a safe distance!)Now heat oil in a wok.Saute onions,gr.chilli,garlic to a brownish tinge.Now add the sauces.Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.Finally add the deep fried crab croquets and mix well with the gravy.If you want it more fluidy,you can add a little water.Now cook everything together for another 3 or 4 minutes.Do not stir vigorously for the croquets might break....but still it doesnt really matter...for they taste amazing even in amorphous condition!!Garnish with some chopped parsley and serve it with Chappathi or with some Couscous Pilaf.

11 comments:

starry said...

Looks delicious...I am sure it tastes delicious too.

Anonymous said...

Yum! Yum!

Been meaning to ask...is the new profile photo a subtle hint of what should be your birthday gift? Or anniversary gift?! Do tell!!

indianadoc said...

>thanx sn for dropping in...it was the first time I did it, but was definitely worth the trouble...It was really very yummmy..
>:) Manisha,I had a different pic earlier..many of our friends felt it did not suite my profile..and our Krishnarjuna had asked me to post my Swarovski collection...So I just took a snap of one ofmy Swarovsky n some pearls.My hand shook,the snap ws spoilt, but I somehow liked the fuzzy look!!So it became my new profile- as clear as swarovski crystal!!

Unknown said...

WOW!!!!! Super duper yummy

Sumitha said...

Oh Shynee so much food!It would have been nice if you had taken few pics.but personally I feel very awkward and conscious in a restaurant to click photos!!!everyone around wonders whats wrong with me!Anyway you guys eat well and be happy:)

Maddy said...

one of the rare finds in this country is Nandos...after all those bangla indian curry houses with the 4 standard masala's..we go to the bull ring nandos and chomp on the chicken wings..

But when we tried nandos at home, it did not come close to the stuff from the restaurant. The Paella like rice is fablous, whatdya think?

did you try each of those 42 chinese dishes? man! were u hungry!!!

indianadoc said...

>Pushpa,yes it is indeed very yummy!!
>Sumi, the first day it came as a total surprise...the next day I did carry my camera to take the snap..the crowd was unbelievable...and I was feeling quite embarrased and on top my husband said a big 'no':( The second day we went prepared, ate very little, the whole day sparing enough space in the stomach for the dinner so that we cd taste every dish!!Boy! it was great!!
>Maddy,I am very much inclined to try the periperi chicken...as one of the ads there says it is indeed very addictive...and what a treat indeed...I do agree most of the so called Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi restaurants in UK are very poor cousins of the original and Nandos is a great relief!! The Paella rice with chicken and sea food could be made fabulous with a little Indianising I feel, the Spanish preparation was a little bit bland for me...I wouldnt call it great, if that is exactly how it is made back in spain...here again we cant take the rest.taste to be std...who knows back in Spain how they really make it...I have stumbled upon a recipe which is described authentic by the author...shall try soon!!
You wouldnt believe it maddy, the first day we were really like mad dogs!! We did not know what to eat and what to skip!!But still managed to fill to the fullest capacity of our stomach!!...The second day we were better armed with a relatively emptier stomach...I feel guilty to say that it was a criminal waste of food...where many things we had to leave with just a bite for we wanted to try everything...and it was nearly 90% coverage!!But not even a single dish tasted bad!! We hope to plunder it more!!

Maddy said...

we have decided, dragon king - shrewsbury will be the next port of call..

Hey, we have tried Spain's Paella. There are all kinds, in fact they toss in all the seafood they can find into the pot i guess. I did not like it in spain, it was bland and secondly an overpowering taste of saffron. also they undercook the rice, which we may not find right. Compared to that Portugals version in Nandos is far better, it is plain and spicy.

indianadoc said...

Oh pl do try maddy...Yeah it cd be made something like our biriyani but with a medley of everythin...very true....saffron was too overpowering...Nandos is definitely great...

Anonymous said...

Your collection is beautiful! I think the fuzzy effect is very cool!

indianadoc said...

>thanx Manisha...hahaha fuzzy effect by mistake!!