Crab curry, known in Sinhala as kakuluwo curry (kakuluwa is crab), is one of Sri Lanka's great seafood dishes. Whole crabs, cut into pieces with the claws cracked, are simmered in a rich gravy of roasted curry powder, coconut milk, curry leaves and pandan, usually with a sour note from goraka or lime. It is eaten with the hands, shells and all, and is a dish for Sunday lunches, family gatherings and seaside meals rather than an everyday curry.
This page gives the island-wide style cooked in Sinhala homes along the west and south coasts, where the gravy is thickened with a paste of roasted rice and coconut. The northern version, made with Jaffna curry powder and tamarind, has its own page: see Jaffna crab curry.
How to make Sri Lankan crab curry
- Serves 4
- Prep: 30 minutes
- Cook: 35 minutes
- Difficulty: Moderate
For the roasted rice paste
- 2 tbsp raw white rice
- 3 tbsp freshly grated or desiccated coconut
- 4 tbsp water
For the curry
- 1.5 kg fresh mud crabs or blue swimmer crabs (about 4), cleaned, cut into quarters, claws cracked
- 3 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 5 cm piece pandan (rampe) leaf
- 5 cm piece Ceylon cinnamon stick
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2.5 cm piece ginger, finely chopped
- 3 green chillies, slit lengthways
- 2 tbsp roasted Sri Lankan curry powder
- 1 to 2 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 pieces goraka (Garcinia cambogia), soaked in 3 tbsp hot water, or 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 250 ml water
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 1 small handful murunga (moringa) leaves (optional)
Method
- Prepare the crabs. Ask the fishmonger to clean the crabs, or do it yourself: remove the top shell and the feathery gills, rinse well and cut each body into quarters. Crack the claws with the back of a heavy knife so the gravy can get in.
- Make the rice paste. Dry-roast the rice in a small pan over a medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden. Add the coconut and keep stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more, until it is a deep golden brown. Grind to a smooth paste with the water.
- Temper the spices. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan or clay pot over a medium heat. Add the curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon and fenugreek and fry for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Soften the aromatics. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft and lightly golden.
- Add the spices. Turn the heat to low, stir in the curry powder, chilli powder and turmeric and cook for 1 minute without letting them burn. Add the goraka with its soaking water (if using lime, keep it for the end) and the salt.
- Cook the crab. Add the crab pieces and the water, turn them to coat in the spices, then cover and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning once.
- Add the coconut milk. Stir the coconut milk and the rice paste together, pour over the crab and simmer uncovered on a low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the pieces now and then, until the shells are bright orange and the gravy has thickened.
- Finish. Stir in the murunga leaves, if using, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the lime juice if you did not use goraka, taste for salt and rest the curry off the heat for 5 minutes before serving.
Which crabs are used?
Two kinds turn up in Sri Lankan markets. Mud crabs (Scylla serrata, in Sinhala kalapu kakuluwa, "lagoon crab") are large and heavy-clawed, with dense, sweet meat; they live in mangrove-fringed lagoons and estuaries of the kind found along Madu Ganga. Blue swimmer crabs are lighter, with thinner shells, and are caught in coastal waters. Both suit this recipe and cook in about the same time. Buy crabs alive or very fresh and cook them the same day; avoid ready-cooked crab, which toughens when simmered again.
Why roast rice and coconut?
Dry-roasting rice and grated coconut, then grinding them to a paste, is an old Sri Lankan way of thickening and flavouring seafood and meat curries. The paste gives the gravy body so that it clings to the shells, and the toasted coconut adds a nutty depth. Together with the roasted curry powder, in which coriander, cumin, fennel, Ceylon black pepper and other spices are roasted before grinding, it gives the curry its dark colour.
What are murunga leaves?
Murunga is the drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera), grown in gardens all over Sri Lanka. Its small leaves have a mild, slightly bitter, peppery taste, and a handful stirred in at the end is a traditional addition to crab curry. They are optional; if you cannot find them, leave them out rather than substitute.
How do you serve and eat it?
Serve the crab in its gravy with plain rice, a dhal curry and a coconut sambol, or with hoppers, string hoppers or bread to mop up the gravy. Eat it with your fingers, put out finger bowls and a plate for the shells, and use a pick or the tip of a teaspoon for the claw meat.
Where do people eat crab curry in Sri Lanka?
It is at its best in coastal towns with a crab-rich lagoon nearby. Negombo, north of Colombo, is one such place: its lagoon supports a long-standing crab and prawn fishery, and seafood restaurants there are a regular stop on a Negombo city tour. Colombo and the south coast have well-known crab restaurants too.
How do you store it?
Crab curry is best eaten on the day it is made. Cool any leftovers quickly, cover and refrigerate, then eat within 1 day, reheating gently until piping hot. It does not freeze well, as the crab meat turns watery and stringy.
Related reading
2 pages on closely related subjects.
