Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Butter Garlic Crab
Butter Garlic Crab ()

Butter Garlic Crab

Non-vegetarian

A rich butter-garlic crab with cracked pepper and lime, made creamy by the brown crab meat and brightened with coriander. It is served with papad or bread dusted with nori powder.

Cracked pepper for the crab

9 gStirred into the pan with the garlic and green chilli (step 3)
01
Black pepper · Kali Mirchcracked
9 g4 teaspoons
spice
Keep cracked; it goes into the pan with the garlic and chilli.

Everything else

01
Unsalted butter · Safed Makhan
150 g
dairy
02
Garlic · Lehsunminced
36 g4 tablespoons
aromatic
03
Green chilli · Hari Mirchfinely chopped
10 g3 teaspoons
vegetable
04
White crabmeat · Kekdapicked
350 g
seafood
05
Brown crab meat · Kekda ka goshtpicked
40 g
seafood
06
Lime juice · Nimbu Ka Ras
31 g2 tablespoons
souring agent
07
Coriander leaf · Hara Dhania
~30 ghandful
herb
08
Salt · Namak
to taste
salt
09
Papad or bread · Papad
48 g4 slices
other
10
Noriblitzed to a powder
30 g10 sheets
other

Method

  1. Put a splash of water in a large heavy-based pan and heat until it bubbles.
  2. Add 150 g unsalted butter and stir over medium heat until glossy and combined.
  3. Stir in 36 g garlic, 9.9 g green chilli and the masala (9.2 g cracked black pepper); cook for a few seconds.
  4. Add 350 g white crab meat and 40 g brown crab meat and stir to combine.
  5. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the mixture is creamy and smooth.
  6. Take the pan off the heat and stir in 30.6 g lime juice and 30 g coriander leaf.
  7. Season to taste with sea salt.
  8. Spoon the crab into bowls.
  9. Blitz 30 g nori to a powder.
  10. Dust 48 g papad or bread with the nori powder.
  11. Serve the crab with the dusted papad or bread.

Don't have something?

Unsalted butter
  • Ghee

    Use 80% to 85% of the weight. Delivers rich dairy flavour without the milk solids or moisture; watch the heat as it cooks hotter.

  • Butter

    Use equal weight, but reduce the recipe's added salt by approximately 1.5% of the weight of butter used.

Garlic
  • Garlic paste

    Use equal weight. Fry gently in oil or ghee with the ginger; incorporates smoothly into curries without visible minced bits.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 15% to 20% of the weight (about 1 g for every 5 to 6 g fresh cloves). Whisk into sauces; gives a savoury, toasted garlic flavour without raw pungency.

  • Shallot

    Use 1.5 times the weight, very finely minced. Sauté until golden; provides savoury allium sweetness, though it lacks garlic's pungent sulphur bite.

Green chilli
  • Chilli powder

    Use 10 to 15% of the weight (about 1/4 teaspoon per chilli); imparts dry pungent heat and reddens the dish without the grassy crunch.

  • Dried red chilli

    Use 1 dried pod per fresh green chilli; snap in half and temper in hot oil for a deeper, toastier heat.

Black pepper
  • Black peppercorn

    Use the same weight and crush or grind as the recipe needs; whole peppercorn is the same spice.

  • Ground black pepper

    Use the same weight; add nearer the end if the recipe calls for whole pepper, as ground loses aroma faster.

  • Ground white pepper

    Use about 75–80% of the weight; it is milder and earthier, with less bite.

White crabmeat
  • Crab

    Use the same weight of cooked picked crab; check for shell and add at the same stage.

  • Prawn

    Use the same weight, chopped; cook 2–3 minutes less or they toughen.

  • White fish fillet

    Use the same weight, steamed and flaked; fold in near the end to avoid breaking.

Brown crab meat
  • White crab meat

    Use the same weight; it is milder and less rich, so add a little extra butter or oil.

  • Crabmeat

    Use the same weight; mixed crabmeat gives a balance of brown and white meat.

  • Crab

    Use the same weight of picked meat; adjust seasoning as fresh crab varies in saltiness.

Lime juice
  • Lemon juice

    Use equal volume or weight; slightly sweeter and less pungent, but otherwise an imperceptible swap.

  • Dried mango powder

    Use 25% of the weight; imparts dry, fruity sourness, best stirred in right at the end of cooking.

  • Tamarind extract

    Use 50% of the weight; delivers pleasant fruity tang but turns pale sauces considerably darker.

Coriander leaf
  • Coriander

    Use equal weight finely chopped; this is the exact same fresh herb.

  • Mint

    Use half the weight finely chopped; provides vibrant green freshness, though the flavour profile becomes noticeably cooler and sharper.

Papad or bread
  • Lentil crisp

    Use the same weight; roast or fry, crisper and saltier.

  • Bread

    Use the same weight; toast or grill, softer and less salty.

  • Bread roll

    Use the same weight; soft roll, toasted, best for scooping.

Nori
  • Nori sheet

    Use the same weight, torn or crumbled; it is the same seaweed in sheet form, so flavour is identical.

Similar dishes

Crab Scotch Egg with Moilee Sauce
It tastes of crisp fried egg and creamy coconut moilee with mustard, turmeric and curry leaf, so it is less butter-garlic-peppery than this dish and still lime-soured.
  • Same: It shares white and brown crab meat, garlic, green chilli, coriander and lime juice with this dish.
  • Different: It adds egg, flour, panko, deep-frying in vegetable oil, coconut milk, coconut oil, mustard seed, turmeric, curry leaves, onion, ginger and samphire, and lacks this dish's butter, black pepper, nori and papad or bread.
Cornish Crab Meen Moilee with Toasted Peanuts
It tastes rich and tangy from coconut milk and lime, with gentle heat and a nutty peanut crunch; this dish tastes rich from butter and brown crab meat, with garlic, cracked pepper and lime.
  • Same: Cornish Crab Meen Moilee with Toasted Peanuts shares white crab meat, green chilli, lime juice, coriander and sea salt with this dish.
  • Different: It adds coconut milk, coconut oil, black mustard seed, curry leaf, onion, turmeric, ginger, peanuts and frisée, and it omits butter, garlic, black pepper, brown crab meat, papad or bread and nori; it is a coconut curry, while this dish is a butter-garlic crab.
Nejandu Kari
Crab Curry
Nejandu Kari tastes sour from tamarind and hot from chilli powder in a tomato gravy with earthy fenugreek and mustard, while this dish tastes buttery, garlicky, peppery and lime-bright with creamy brown crab meat.
  • Same: Nejandu Kari shares crabmeat, garlic, green chilli and salt with this dish.
  • Different: Nejandu Kari uses vegetable oil instead of butter and adds tamarind, tomato, chilli powder, turmeric, ground coriander, mustard seed, fenugreek, curry leaf and ginger, with no lime, coriander leaf, nori or papad/bread.
Nejandu Thoran
Crab Curry with Coconut
Nejandu Thoran tastes dry, fragrant and coconut-rich with gentle spice and natural crab sweetness, while this dish tastes buttery, garlicky, creamy, peppery and lime-bright.
  • Same: Nejandu Thoran shares crabmeat as the main ingredient with this dish, and both use green chilli and salt.
  • Different: Nejandu Thoran is a dry dish with grated coconut, coconut oil, curry leaves, ginger, shallot, cumin, chilli powder, ground coriander and turmeric, while this dish uses butter, garlic, black pepper, lime juice, brown crab meat, coriander leaf, papad or bread and nori.