Mixed #Seafood #Curry #Durbanstyle

I looked everywhere on the internet for mixed seafood curry recipe but could not find one. So I just made up a version with a few ideas I saw along the way and the type of flavours I was in the mood for!

We rarely eat crab curry because it’s too messy and sometimes not substantial enough on its own because it’s all shell and gravy? You know what I mean? But we do love the flavours. This curry is the best of a “number of worlds” as the prawns, scallop and squid are easy to eat, are delicious and much more substantial….and really benefit from the crab flavoured sauce that is created.

We ate the prawns, squid and scallops first and then the the crab with our hands and. Finger bowl at the end!

The addition of tamarind pulp and classic South Indian spices adds the zingy tartness melding together into a really delicious curry that is. I think this dish is about to be known as Amazing Seafood and bound to be a favourite in our house.

If you want to make this without the crab, best to put shellfish first and add after quicker cooking fish etc later. Good luck ..easy to experiment and it will still be delicious!

Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes

Perfect for dinner for 2 with salad.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 blue swimmer crab cleaned and cut into pieces, legs pulled off
  • 6-8 green prawns shelled and deveined
  • 8-10 scallops
  • 3 baby squid/calamari
  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • 1 onion finely diced
  • 2 pieces cinammon bark/ half a quill
  • 1/2 teaspoon cummin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • Large handful of fresh curry leaves (or 2 bay leaves)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon cummin powder
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic
  • Equal amount of fresh ginger to garlic
  • 1-2 red chillies
  • 1,5 teaspoons tamarind puree
  • 1-1.5cups water
  • Salt
  • 3tablespoons Vegetable oil
  • Coriander to garnish

Method:

1. Clean crab and cut into pieces, peel and devein prawns.

2. Cuts a baby squid into strips, place in bowl with 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon of cumin powder, 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder and 1/2 tablespoon oil, mix and leave to marinate as you prepare other ingredients.

3. Crush ginger, garlic and red chillies into a paste.

4. Peel onion and dice finely. Dice tomatoes.

5. Heat oil in heavy based pan (use a pan or pot with a lid) over medium heat, Add cinnamon bark, 2/3 of the curry leaves, cummin seeds and fennel seeds and heat gently until fragrant.

6. Add onions and cook slowly until translucent.

7.Add 3/4 teaspoon each of cummin powder, turmeric and chilli powder and mix through onions to heat through, then add fenugreek seeds if using, add in tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt.

8. Cook tomatoes for about 5 minutes until they begin to break down, add 1/4 cup of water and tamarind purée. Bring mixture back to simmer.

9. Add the crab to the tomato mixture and coat the crab in the sauce. Place lid on the pot and allow crabs to simmer for 10 minutes or so, add another 1/4 cup of water to stop mixture sticking.

10. Heat grill in oven, place squid on a oven tray covered in baking paper and grill squid for 5-8 minutes, turning over once until browned and cooked. Remove from oven and reserve.

11. Add prawns to carb mixture, checking to make sure sauce isn’t sticking but not adding too much more water unless needed. Allow prawns to cook for about 3 minutes, then add scallops and allow to simmer for another 3-4 minutes. The sauce should be saucy but not too watery. Add another 1/4-1/2 cup water if needed though. Taste to see if additional salt needed.

12. Scatter over squid and put lid back on for a minute or two to allow squid to just heat up.s

13. Garnish curry with another hand of fresh curry leaves , chopped coriander. Serve with rice, roti and salad.

Mixed seafood curry #durbanstyle

Vietnamese crab with tamarind sauce

This looks delicious – thanks Chica Andaluza!

I love reading cookery books, mainly to inspire rather than follow slavishly. Except when it’s a style of cooking that’s new to me or a cake recipe which generally needs the proportions of ingredients to be reproduced in balance with each other to achieve a good rise. I’ve had time recently to catch up on […]

via Vietnamese crab with tamarind sauce — Chica Andaluza

Indian Spiced Crab with crispy wafers

This makes a delicious canapé served with crispy thin wafers or mini pappadums on the side. Also be perfect on betel leaves if you can source them. Buying the pre-packed  crabmeat makes this a very quick and easy recipe to make. I made this recipe up on Christmas Day and it received good reviews from the family so thought I would share…unfortunately no end product photos!

Prep time: 5 minutes  Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 x 400g/500g tub of crab meat (available from seafood shops or supermarkets in Australia) – fork through crab meat to break chunks up
1 onion finely diced
1 tablespoon of ginger and garlic paste (2 cloves garlic and equivalent ginger ground to a fine paste)
2 sprigs of curry leaves removed from stalk
1/2 cinammon stick (preferably cinnamon bark)
1/2 teaspoon cummin powder
1 red chilli finely diced (can be omitted)
1 tspn black mustard seeds or nigella seeds
1.5 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
salt to taste
Handful of coriander leaves, very finely chopped

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Method:
Heat oil in non-stick pan over medium heat
Add cinammon bark and curry leaves to flavour oil until curry leaves stop spluttering
Add onions and cook slowly (sweat) over medium heat until translucent and tender
Add ginger and garlic paste and sautéed for 1 minute
Add mustard seeds, chilli and cummin powder and let heat through for 1 minute
Add crabmeat and cook through for 3-4 minutes to allow crab to absorb spice flavours – – continue to break up chunks into crab flakes
Taste to see if salt required
Remove curry leaves and cinammon stick
Add very finely chopped coriander leaves and mix through
Serve in bowl with a spoon with crackers on the side or make up individual serves by placing a spoonful of the crab mixture on each cracker

Spice Temple Cooking Class – Sydney Seafood School

On a cold and drizzly Monday night in Sydney I ventured down to the Sydney Fish Markets for a cooking class at their Seafood Cooking School. They offer a big variety of courses often featuring well known Chefs and I’d booked in to the class by Head Chef Andy Evans from the Neil Perry restaurant, Spice Temple. Both Andy Evans and Neil Perry have travelled extensively in regional China, and Spice Temple features their especially created recipes featuring regional Chinese cooking with a  spicy kick!

The amphitheatre at the Seafood School was full of enthusiastic foodies and the class started with Andy outlining the order of proceedings and the menu. We were each given a booklet with the 3 recipes we would be making: Tuna with Blackened Chilli Dressing, Prawn and Peanut Relish and Spanner Crab Omelette with Oyster Sauce.

The high tech set-up in the amphitheatre which has video screens displaying what is happening on the kitchen bench and stove makes it easy to watch the cooking demonstrations. It’s almost like watching a cooking show on TV live, with the knowledge in the back of your mind that it will be your turn soon.

Chef Andy Evans demonstrating recipes T Sydney Seafood School
Chef Andy Evans demonstrating recipes at Sydney Seafood School

During the demonstration, Andy gave us handy tips and hints which were helpful. For example he told us you should always use a wet knife when slicing raw fish like the tuna for the sashimi, how to properly clean coriander root and the circular motion to use when pounding the peanuts to crush them without making them too oily….

Another great technique he showed us was how to “crack” coconut cream split the oil from the “cream” and use that to fry the onion and spices for the Prawn and Peanut relish recipe.

The omelette that he made is a real show stopper and is absolutely delicious whilst being quick and easy to make. It does require frying in a large amount of hot oil and then discarding the oil before rolling the omelette and ingredients into a log shape. The resulting makes for a stunning buffet addition or shared main course dish. With only a few ingredients like egg, crabmeat, garlic chives, bean sprouts, oyster sauce and vegetable oil needed it is also relatively affordable dinner party menu item, whilst being REALLY impressive.

At the end of the demonstration Andy laid out the finished dishes for us students to file past and understand the benchmark for our attempts!

Tuna Sashimi with blackened chilli dressing
Tuna Sashimi with blackened chilli dressing

Prawn and peanut relish seved with cos lettuce "cups"
Prawn and peanut relish seved with cos lettuce “cups”

Stunning spanner crab omelette with oyster sauce
Stunning spanner crab omelette with oyster sauce

We split up into groups of five or six and moved into the cooking school’s first class kitchen set up. Each group had our own kitchen bench, gas stove, fridge fully stocked with all the ingredients we needed. My group was exemplary at team work and we quickly split up the responsibilities amongst us, helping each other as needed to keep a cracking pace as we went. You can actually reserve a bench you have a group of five or six when you book in to the class if you are going with a bunch of friends.

I was allocated the omelette to make and I can tell you I was nervous about what the outcome of the omelette rolling would be! Would mine end up as a mess of broken egg and crab instead of the beautiful log created by Andy. But with some the help of some timely tips while I was making the recipe from Cooking School assistant chefs I managed to turn out a result that was pretty damn close to the original! As you can see below, I do need to brush up on my oyster sauce pouring technique though – not quite as symmetrical as Andy’s!  (I have made the omelette one already at home but didn’t have oyster sauce so replaced it with kecap manis which was just as delicious)

My attempt at the Spanner crab omelette.
My attempt at the Spanner crab omelette.

After our cooking antics, we all moved to the dining area where we got to enjoy the results of our efforts and swop foodie stories with a bottle of complimentary wine.

The entire experience was fun and educational. The course was very professionally run and Andy Evans was an excellent instructor. He also stayed throughout the class visiting each bench in the kitchen and giving more hands on tips and assistance. I was given the course as a birthday present and would highly recommend it as a great gift for your foodie friends and an excellent way to learn about Australian seafood cooking in the great atmosphere of the Sydney Fish Markets if you are visiting Sydney.

Cooking fun at Sydney Seafood School
Cooking fun at Sydney Seafood School