If You Love Chilies, You Must Take The Crab Challenge!

The khangrai mosodeng requires a lot of chilies and is very hot

If you’re anything like me, you must love food! I am Swapan Debbarma and I enjoy cooking and eating the different dishes of Tripura. The amazing thing about Tripuri cuisine is that almost all our ingredients are sourced locally which means that the dishes are always fresh and tasty. Every household in the villages grow their own ginger, turmeric, chilies, and a few vegetables. What’s more is that we love our chilies and are addicted to its hotness! There is a common saying that every bite of a chili dish or mosodeng should feel like a slap on the face! Today we will learn how to make an amazing chili dish using crabs. Please keep in mind that it is not for the faint-hearted.

Tripuri rivers and ponds sustain a huge variety of fishes, molluscs, and crustaceans that add to the overall diversity of our cuisine. One of our seasonal adventures is related to the catching of crabs from riverbanks and the banks of ponds. Unlike crabs found in the sea, freshwater crabs are small in size with thin shells. They dig holes on the side of a waterbody where they hide themselves from the world. As I am experienced in catching crabs, I can spot the holes where the crabs are likely to reside. Sometimes, however, that hole may turn out to be the property of a very angry water snake!

The ponds and rivers of Tripura are natural habitats for freshwater crabs. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

On a beautiful winter day, it takes me an entire afternoon to catch enough crabs to make a “khangrai mosodeng” where khangrai means “crab” and “mosodeng” means “crushed chilies”. You will need the following ingredients to make the dish:

• Fresh crabs that have been washed thoroughly many times

• A local hearth where we light a fire using firewood

• Green chilies

• Berma (fermented fist)

• A handful of sliced onions

• Salt to taste

Process:

• First of all roast the crab on the ambers of the hearth. Roast it till it is cooked. It shouldn't take more than five minutes.

• Now roast the green chilies on the ambers too. Make sure that it is roasted well on all sides. Repeat the process with the fermented fish too.

• Place the chilies and berma in a mortar (we call it kunriya) and crush them into a paste using a pestle.

• Wash the roasted crab and add them to the mortar. Crush them together again.

• Lastly, add salt and onion and mix well. Usually I taste a bit of the onion to find out if enough salt has been added or not.

The freshwater crabs are small in size and have thinner shells

Serve the mosodeng with hot rice. The shell of the crab might cause some inconvenience but if you have healthy teeth it shouldn't be an issue. The dish is very tasty and I make it during the winter season when crabs are available in abundance. If you live near a pond or a lake, you should definitely take up the challenge of catching crabs and cooking them in this easy way. You will not regret it.

This article is created as a part of the Adivasi Awaaz project, with the support of Misereor and Prayog Samaj Sevi Sanstha.