Sri-Lankan-Style Crab Curry & Kachumber Salad

Sri-Lankan-Style Crab Curry & Kachumber Salad

Escape to Sri Lanka with this delicious crab curry. Simmered with creamy coconut, warming curry spices and plenty of goodness, thanks to spinach and red peppers. Serve with a refreshing kachumber salad – crunchy chopped cucumber, onions and zingy tomatoes.

1/3 daily fibre 9 plants

Serving size

Cook time: 30 mins
Cuisine: Indian
Food group: Shellfish
Allergens: Crustaceans
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Cooking Instructions

The protein cooking time listed in this recipe has been updated.

As of December 2025, we’ve revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.

Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.

  1. Bring a large saucepan filled with salted hot water to a boil. Add the rice and boil for 20-25 mins, until cooked, then drain.
  2. Finely slice the onion and pepper. Rinse the spinach.
  3. Heat a large frying pan with 2 tbsp oil on medium-high heat. Add the pepper and half the onion, cook for 3-4 mins, until softening. Add the curry powder, ginger & garlic paste, cardamom and tomato puree. Cook for 1 min, then add the creamed coconut and 300ml water (150ml for 1 person). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 4-6 mins, until the pepper is soft and the curry sauce has thickened.
  4. Meanwhile, make the kachumber salad; halve the lime. Dice the cucumber into 1cm cubes. Halve the tomatoes. Add the cucumber and tomatoes to a small mixing bowl with the remaining onion. Squeeze in the juice from half the lime, season well with sea salt and black pepper, and mix to combine.
  5. In the 1-2 mins of simmering the curry, stir in the brown crab meat and spinach, until wilted. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lime into the curry (or to taste). Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
  6. Once the rice is cooked, serve in bowls with the curry and kachumber salad. Top the curry with the white crab meat.

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