Crab and dumpling

Ingredients

Crab

• 4blue crabs, cleaned and quartered
• juice of 2 limes
• 2 tablespoonsgreen seasoning
• 1 teaspoonsalt

Curry base

• 3 tablespoonscurry powder
• 1 teaspoonground geera, cumin
• 1 teaspoonturmeric
• 2onions, chopped
• 8garlic cloves, crushed
• 3cm ginger, grated
• 4 tablespoonsoil
• 1scotch bonnet, whole
• 4 sprigsthyme
• 6chadon beni leaves, chopped

To finish

• 500 mlcoconut milk
• 300 mlwater
• salt and black pepper

Dumplings

• 300 gplain flour
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• about 150 ml water

Directions

1. Chill the crab in the freezer for twenty minutes. Ask the fishmonger to prepare them if you prefer. Pull the top shell away from the body. Remove and discard the feathery gills. Rinse out the body cavity thoroughly. Cut the body into quarters with a heavy knife. Crack the claws with the back of the knife.
2. Rub the crab pieces with lime juice. Rinse them and then pat them dry. Rub green seasoning into every piece. Let the crab sit for thirty minutes. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the chopped onions to the oil. Cook them for about six minutes. Add the garlic and the ginger.
3. Cook them for a good two minutes. Mix the curry powder with water to a paste. Add that paste to the hot pot. Fry that paste for a full five minutes. Stir it constantly so it does not catch. The name is misleading, since it must not burn. Oil should separate at the edges when it is ready.
4. Add the crab pieces to the pot. Turn them over to coat them in the curry. Let them fry for about five minutes. Add the thyme and the whole scotch bonnet. Never let the pepper burst in the pot.
5. Pour in the coconut milk and the water. Stir it through the pot thoroughly. Bring it to a very gentle simmer. Never boil coconut milk hard, which splits it. Season it with salt and black pepper. Cover the pot and let it cook. Give it about twenty-five minutes.
6. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add water slowly until it comes together. Knead it for about five minutes. It should be firm and quite smooth. Let it rest for a good ten minutes. Take a piece of dough and roll it into a ball. Press it into a flat even oval. It should be about half a centimetre thick. Set them out on a floured plate. Drop them into the simmering curry.
7. Let them cook for about fifteen minutes. They swell and firm up as they cook. Cut one open to check the middle. It should be cooked and not doughy. Cook it uncovered a few minutes to reduce it. Taste it and adjust the salt to suit.
8. Stir in the chopped chadon beni. Serving it is done hot and messily. Ladle crab and dumplings into wide bowls. Spoon plenty of sauce over everything. Crab crackers help with the claws.

Technique

• Burning the curry is the Trinidadian term for frying the curry paste until the raw spice is cooked out and the oil separates, and it must not actually burn.
• Tobago uses flat dumplings pressed between the palms, where round ones are used elsewhere in Trinidad.
• The crab shells are cooked in the curry rather than discarded, since they contribute a great deal of the flavour.

Substitutions

• Any crab works, and cooked crab from a fishmonger avoids the handling of live ones.
• Coriander stands in for chadon beni but is much milder, so use about three times as much.

Variations

• Some cooks add potato or pumpkin to the pot.
• A version with more scotch bonnet is made for those who want heat.
• Curry duck and curry goat are made the same way in Trinidad.

History

Tobago’s signature dish of blue crab curried in coconut milk with boiled dumplings, sold along the island’s beaches.

Frequently asked questions

What is Crab and dumpling?

Crab and dumpling is a main from Trinidad and Tobago: curried crab with flat boiled dumplings, Tobago’s pride. Tobago’s signature dish of blue crab curried in coconut milk with boiled dumplings, sold along the island’s beaches.

How long does Crab and dumpling take to make?

Crab and dumpling takes 45 minutes of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Crab and dumpling?

Yes, within limits. Any crab works, and cooked crab from a fishmonger avoids the handling of live ones. Coriander stands in for chadon beni but is much milder, so use about three times as much.

What is the most important thing to get right in Crab and dumpling?

Cook them for a good two minutes. Mix the curry powder with water to a paste. Add that paste to the hot pot. Fry that paste for a full five minutes. Stir it constantly so it does not catch. The name is misleading, since it must not burn. Oil should separate at the edges when it is ready.