Kerala Style Crab Roast or Njandu Roast (ഞണ്ടു പിരളൻ) is a popular seafood delicacy in Kerala. The crab is cooked in shallots, onions, and tomato and simmered in flavorful aromatic Indian spices. For an authentic taste, coconut oil and fresh spices are used for the preparation.
Crab Roast is a much-loved delicacy in my family and is often prepared during Easter and Christmas.
My memories of this dish go back to my childhood where my Dad brought home fresh crabs from the seafood market. They are mostly caught live from the backwaters near my hometown in Kottayam and he always said freshwater crabs are much tastier than the ones from the sea. He taught me how to eat the crabs but of course, it was intimidating at first. But whoa! “Get messy, mol” was his advice!
I do not agree with the popular notion that crabs are difficult to clean. They are in fact easy, once you know the technique. The same goes for eating crabmeat from inside the shells although it’d take anywhere between 20-30 minutes to finish eating this dish!
Kerala Style Crab Roast is a popular dish in many seaside restaurants and toddy shops, colloquially called ‘Kallu Shaap‘. It is usually served with Kappa Vevichathu or Savory Tapioca Mash. But it goes well with steamed rice as well.
Even though Njandu Roast is a delicacy, it can be easily prepared from staple ingredients from your pantry.
Kerala Crab Roast is
- perfect as a side dish to rice or appam
- ideal for Christmas/Easter/Ramadan lunch.
- flavorful and delicious
- can also be made into a curry
🦀 Ingredients You’ll Need
Kuttanadan Njandu Roast
To make this delicious Kerala Crab Masala, you need good-quality fresh crabs. Wash and clean them and keep them aside.
Main Ingredients:
- 750 gm Crab, washed and cleaned
- 4 Onions, large, sliced
- 1/2 cup Shallots, sliced
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
- 3-4 Green chilies, slit
- Curry leaves
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/8 cup Coconut Oil
- 2 tbsp Corinader powder
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri Red Chili powder
- 1 tsp Red Chili powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala powder
- 1 tsp Fennel powder
- 3 Tomatoes, sliced
There are a few ingredients that we need to grind.
- 10-12 Shallots (ചെറിയ ഉള്ളി)
- 3 tbsp Sliced Garlic
- 2 tbsp Ginger, chopped
- 1 tbsp Fennel (പെരുംജീരകം)
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns
Crab is tough meat to cook. But it is also flavourful and is perfect when cooked with spices.
Crab Curry Recipe Kerala Style
- To make Kerala Crab Roast, heat a pan and add coconut oil.
- Once hot, add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
- Once the seeds splutter, add the sliced shallots, curry leaves and green chilies. Saute for a couple of minutes and add the sliced onion and saute until golden brown.
- Add the ground shallot mixture and combine well.
- Cook for a couple of minutes until the raw smell of the ground mixture goes.
- Add the sliced tomatoes and combine well until tomatoes turn mushy and oil starts leaving the sides of the pan.
- Add all the spice powders – turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, Red chili powder, Corinader powder, Garam masala, Fennel powder, and Pepper powder. Mix well.
- Add the cleaned crabs and mix well. Make sure that all the crab meat is coated well with the masala.
- Cover and cook the crab on medium heat for about five minutes. After five minutes, mix well.
- Add about a cup of water and mix again. Cover and cook for another ten minutes
Kerala Style Crab Roast Recipe Video
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Crab Roast
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 persons 1x
Description
Kerala Style Crab Roast or Njandu Roast (ഞണ്ടു പിരളൻ) is a popular seafood delicacy in Kerala where the crab is cooked in shallots, onions, and tomato and simmered in flavorful aromatic Indian spices.
Ingredients
- 750 gm Crab, washed and cleaned
- 4 Onions, large, sliced
- 1/2 cup Shallots, sliced
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
- 3–4 Green chilies, slit
- Curry leaves
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/8 cup Coconut Oil
- 1 cup Hot Water
- 2 tbsp Corinader powder
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri Red Chili powder
- 1 tsp Red Chili powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala powder
- 1 tsp Fennel powder
- 3 Tomatoes, sliced
To Grind:
- 10–12 Shallots (ചെറിയ ഉള്ളി)
- 3 tbsp Garlic, sliced
- 2 tbsp Ginger, chopped
- 1 tbsp Fennel (പെരുംജീരകം)
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns
Instructions
- Wash and clean crabs and set aside.
- Grind the ingredients- shallots, garlic, ginger, fennel, and peppercorns coarsely and keep aside.
- To make Kerala Crab Roast, heat a pan and add coconut oil.
- Once hot, add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
- Once the seeds splutter, add the sliced shallots. Saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add the sliced onion and saute until golden brown.
- Add curry leaves and green chilies.
- Add the ground shallot mixture and combine well.
- Cook for a couple of minutes until the raw smell of the ground mixture goes.
- Add the sliced tomatoes and combine well until tomatoes turn mushy and oil starts leaving the sides of the pan.
- Add all the spice powders – turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, Red chili powder, Corinader powder, Garam masala, Fennel powder, and Pepper powder. Mix well.
- Add the cleaned crabs and mix well. Make sure that all the crab meat is coated well with the masala.
- Cover and cook the crab on medium heat for about five minutes. After five minutes, mix well.
- Add about a cup of water and mix again. Cover and cook for another ten minutes.
- Serve hot with rice, appam, or ghee rice.
Notes
- You can always add another cup of hot water if you want to turn this Crab Roast into a Crab curry.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Side
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Kerala
Keywords: crab roast, kerala style crab roast, njandu roast, kuttanadan njandu roast, crab pepper fry
Crab Roast: FAQs
Store the leftover Crab Roast in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can reheat and use it the next day and not any later.
Serve Kerala Style Crab Roast as a side dish with steamed rice, roti, appam, or Kappa Vevichathu.
You can add an additional cup of hot water while preparing this dish to transform it into a curry. Cook for a couple of minutes more until the masala is well combined.
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This post is part of My Friend Alexa by Blogchatter
Tried it, tastes excellent
★★★★★
I love all seafood made the authentic Kerala style. Bookmarking this one. Thanks for sharing, Shalini! 🙂 #MyFriendAlexa #TinasPicks
Bring a vegetarian I don’t have much knowledge,however you way of presenting the dish and the details that have gone into explaining someone to experiment the fish is fabulous.. Thank you
Thanks, Shalini once again for sharing such a tempting and easy recipe!!
Kudos to the detailing in the recipe
That looks delicious, love how you have given every possible detail
I can almost smell the spices in that roast! Gorgeous pictures!
My husband dis Maharashtrian and loves crab. Shall try this tempting recipe
I am vegetarian so I will pick up the masala style and add Paneer or mushroom.
The detailed recipe made me hungry. Great job.
Looks so Yummy! I remember my grandma used to cook crabs so perfectly! Its been ages I ate crab curry as nothing matches her cooking taste. Your recipe makes me want to try it myself.
★★★★★
I am a Malayali. I would love to make this for my husband and surprise him. So tempting a post this is.
Detailed recipe with very good tips.
This looks delicious. Will try it out.
Aah!! Loved the dish. Though I am a vegetarian, my husband loves crab meat. I Will try my hands on this recipe for sure.
I don’t eat crab but will try this recipe with pander. Thanks for sharing .
Oh gosh it has been ages since I have eaten crab. I’ve had it at my aunt’s place in Goa and never really liked it anywhere else. Thanks for this.
I am vegetarian but I like your recipe . It look so tempting.
The presentation is impressive. I have never tried crab but this one looks tempting.
Hey Shalini, your food recipes are so easy to follow. I hope crab lovers would love to try your recipe.
Crab roast have been tasted by me when I visited Kerela once and it was delicious. This detailed recipe will surely be appreciated by people who cook crab dishes.
This is very very tempting… But Please make it with the cleaned crab meat, Please!!!!! I just can’t have anything with bones. It’s to much work for lazy hungry guy like me…
This sounds delicious!
★★★★★
Wow. My mouth is watering, Worth trying.
Very detailed and nice pictorial of the entire process.. liked reading through and will share with my friends
The crab looks fabulous. And I can imagine the flavors. Will try your recipe next time. Your recipe posts are always so detailed and packed with information.
Yum! I’m a goankar and we love crabs. We make the authentic crab curry and this will be a great variety to try out.
I LOVE crab! However, I have always been worried about cooking it at home. Thanks to your detailed recipe, I am inspired to try this at home! Thank you so much for sharing this!
This recipe looks really delicious and easy. I’ll definitely try
Kerala has such a rich variety of dishes and I who was born and brought up here haven’t tasted a fraction of those! I lived outside Kerala for most part of my life, of course. Secondly, nonveg food hardly appeals to me though I am not a strict vegetarian at all. This looks good and I wouldn’t mind trying it.
Never tried a crab or cooked for anyone. Love how you posted the recipe with images and your step by step description. I hope those who eat crab will benefit from this recipe.
Ooh! This sounds yummy! Hubby loves crab and sadly I am allergic. Never tried cooking crab at home..I will surely try this recipe once…
Shalini, you are a true Master Chef! I love reading your recipes and looking at your pictures. Thank you for adding the video at the end as well. Bon Appetit!
I’ll give the recipe a try with eggs. I can’t cook seafood to save my life! The smell is very overpowering for me to handle. This should go well as a mutton or chicken curry too, right Shal? #MyepicaReads.
I am not a vegetarian but have not been a sea food person, however, your recipe and all the pictures wants me to come to your home and try it.
★★★★★
Wow, this seems to be a spicy delight with spice and shallots would try for sure.
Your recipes are always so detailed and neat, I don’t eat non veg, but am sure my dad would love this.
I don’t eat crab but I loved the way you have presented the recipe. The photos, instructions, the touch of the region…so amazing!
I never ate crab and I don’t think I want to but great recipe. It sounds so easy.
It seems very easy . I know cooking something with a huge process is something i dont preffer . having kids around and time taken cookings.. thanks for this easy one
This looks so good. I have never cooked crab but you have explained everything so well. Pictures make it easy to understand too.
Writing about leftovers in the recipe is too good
Loved reading the recipe. Your style is amazing with pictures of each step. Liked the video too the last section is a fabulous add on. Great work
Deepika Sharma
This looks really delicious. I have never tried crab roast this way and will surely try out your recipe next time. Thanks for sharing it.
Your crab roast looks scrumptious. Although I am a vegetarian, I do cook nonveg but I have never tried crab. Some day I am going to try your recipe, Shalini
Your Blog is the go-to for Kerala Cuisine, Shalini. In fact, I share the link with whoever asks for ‘best Kerala style recipes’. Love how you’ve added descriptive pictures to make it easier to follow the recipe.
★★★★★
The dish looks amazing. Am not a sea-food lover here but am sure those who do will relish this.
This looks soo delicious and droolworthy. I never ate crab till now but now i so wanna try this recipe and taste crab…
I have never eaten crab. but seems good recipe for people who eat them.