Guyanese Crab Curry Recipes

GUYANESE CHICKEN CURRY

Steps:

• In a blender, combine medium onion, head of garlic, thyme leaves, pepper, and 1/4 cup water. Blend until smooth and thick like a smoothie.
• Wash and clean chicken (see below). Remove fat, chop into 3-inch pieces. Pat dry with paper towel, set aside.
• Add 2 tbsp of the seasoning to chicken plus 1 tsp curry powder. Massage into meat, let it rest for 1/2 hour minimum. Store remaining seasoning in a container in fridge for use in another recipe.
• In a bowl, mix 4 heaping tbsp fresh seasoning, 4 tbsp masala, 3 tsbp curry powder, 1/2 tsp geera, and 1/3 cup water into a paste.
• Heat an iron pot with 6 tbsp oil. Add masala-curry powder paste and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly until mixture looks darker and not watery .
• Add chicken to pot and stir to coat with masala-curry powder mixture.
• Cover pot and let chicken cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat stirring every once in a while. Remove lid and allow water from chicken to evaporate. Chicken will then start to look "dry." Add salt and turn chicken.
• Add enough boiling water to cover chicken.
• Add tomato paste, and chopped potatoes, cover with lid.
• Let curry boil on medium-high heat until gravy has reduced by one-third and thickens to your desire.
• When curry is done, sprinkle a little geera on top and garnish with fresh scallions.

GRANDMA'S KHICHRI

Steps:

• Rinse split peas, set aside. Chop onion and garlic, set aside.
• In a pot, heat canola oil over a medium heat, add onion, garlic, wiri wiri pepper, curry powder, cumin, and split peas. Fry until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add two cups of water to boil split peas. Boil until peas are slightly soft on low-medium heat.
• Grate coconut and squeeze milk from coconut through a cheesecloth, strainer, or with bare hands. A second time, place grated coconut in 1/3 cup warm water, let it steep for 15 minutes. Squeeze to extract more milk. Continue this process until you have about 1 1/2 cups of coconut milk. (I only had to do this twice)
• Add rice, turmeric, salt, chopped spinach, and fresh coconut milk to the pot. Let boil until rice is soft. If you prefer a more soupy texture, remove from heat once the rice is done the cooking. If you prefer your khichri a little drier, let the mixture continue to cook until most liquid has evaporated.
• If you would like to chunkay this dish: slice 2 garlic cloves and fry in 2 tbsp of oil. Once garlic turns brown, add oil and garlic to the khichri covering the pot immediately to prevent oil from pitching. Stir to develop flavor.

CURRY CRAB

Steps:

• To prep the crabs, check out our Scallion Ginger Cantonese Crab recipe for very detailed instructions. They should be as fresh as possible! After the crabs are prepared, pat them dry and dredge them with flour. Set aside.
• In most restaurants, crabs are almost always deep fried first, so they are cooked quickly and the juices get sealed in. But since we're doing this at home, we don't have to get out the deep fryer. The way to do it is to sear the crabs on all sides to get the same effect. Heat the wok over high heat and add 3 tablespoons of oil. Sear the crabs, paying special attention to the open dredged areas in order to seal in the juices. Turn the heat to medium and fry until they've turned red-orange. This process should take about 5 minutes and the crab should be about 80% done. Set them aside.
• There should be a tablespoon or more oil left in the wok and if not, add more until you have at least 1 ½ tablespoons. Add the ginger. Caramelize for 1-2 minutes on low heat, and then add the garlic, shallots, and the white portions of the scallion. Cook until softened.
• Turn heat to medium high and add the curry, turmeric, salt, sugar, water and wine, and stir until mixed well. Toss in the crab until coated and cover the wok. Cook for about 1 minute and stir and toss the crab until the liquid is reduced. Garnish with the green portion of the scallions and serve!