India is known for its wide variety of meats in seafood, as well as its innumerable recipes for seafood in every single cuisine. So it’s no surprise that it is one of the leading seafood exporters and traders globally. But what may come as a bit of a surprise, is that along with being extremely popular and utterly flavourful, seafood is also a great option for those looking to move into a healthier lifestyle! Meats like prawn and crab especially are packed with proteins and nutrients like omega 3 fatty acids, zinc, selenium, etc., and can be incorporated into your meal plan to achieve that quintessential high-protein, low-calorie diet.

What’s more, with our exciting line of seafood, you get to skip right to the exciting part of cooking seafood!

Prawns/Eral

This delectable aquatic meat is well-known for its distinctive sweet flavor and aroma. Our prawns are as fresh as they come and de-shelled for your ease. Firm texture and crunchy to bite into, they are also a resident favorite among health experts because of their low-calorie, high-protein nature. But it’s not just that! Prawns are loaded with nutrients like omega 3 fatty acids, zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin B3 which makes it a super-healthy choice for those of you looking to balance your health with meaty cravings!

Here’s a delish recipe of Butter Garlic Prawns to get you started:

Ingredients

Process:

Marinade:

Prawns Medium, peeled and deveined – 500g

Garlic cloves, finely chopped – 4

Extra virgin olive oil – 1 tbsp

Black pepper – 1/2 tsp

Cooking:

Unsalted Butter – 3.5 tbsp

Olive Oil – 1.5 tbsp

Dry White Wine – 60ml

Lemon Juice – 2 tbsp

Salt – ½ tsp or as per taste

For Serving:

Parsley, finely chopped – 2 tbsp

Lemon wedges – 3-4

Bread for mopping

1. Take the prawns, garlic, olive oil and pepper in a bowl, and gently toss. Set aside for at least 20 minutes. Add salt to this mix and toss right before you cook the prawns.
2. Heat about ⅓ of the butter along with the oil in a heavy bottomed fry pan. Sear the prawns in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan.
3. Cook the prawns for about 1 minute on each side, for a beautiful golden brown colour.
4. Once all the prawns have been cooked once, return the first batch of prawns back to the pan, and add white wine.
5. Stir until the wine evaporates. This will last for about 30 seconds.
6. Sprinkle butter across the pan, and pour in the lemon juice. Stir it all together.
7. Transfer your finished dish onto a plate, sprinkle parsley over it, and serve with the lemon wedges. Mop up the yummy juices with your favourite kind of bread!

Crab/Nandu

Crabmeat is believed by historians to be one of the first seafood to be relished by coastal populations around the world. It’s revered by meat-lovers for its delicate, sweet flavor, and naturally flaky texture. It is also considered slightly tricky meat to ‘crack’, but once you get the hang of it, it’s more than worth it!

Don’t get deceived by its rugged exterior, because crab is pretty much a superfood! It’s an excellent source of nutrients like vitamin omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, and especially selenium, which basically drives the human antioxidant defense system! What’s more, its protein to calorie ratio is off the charts and that, along with its low-fat content makes it an absolute go-to for health enthusiasts.

There’s hardly anything as tasty as irresistible as a Sunday Desi-Style Crab Curry served with piping hot rice, so here’s our favorite recipe for you.

Ingredients:

Crab/Nandu(cooked) – 8

Tamarind – 1 small piece

Hot water – ½ cup

Onions (large), sliced – 2

Tomatoes(large), sliced – 2

Dried red chiles – 10 or as per taste

Garlic paste: 2 tbsp

Ginger paste – 1 tbsp

Grated coconut – 1½ cups

Ground coriander – 2 tbsp

Ground cumin – 2 tbsp

Turmeric -½ tsp

Red chili powder – ½ tsp

Green chilies, slit open – 2

Cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Hot water – 3 cups (more/less for desired gravy)

Salt, to taste

Process:

1. Separate the crab legs from the main body.. Take the claws off from the legs such that each leg is now divided into 2 parts.
2. Take a cleaver and cut the crab bodies into 2 or 4 equal pieces.
3. Soak the tamarind in the ½ cup of hot water, and then mash with fingers for tamarind puree. Strain the puree and set aside.
4. For the masala, grind the tomato, onion, dried red chillies, ginger and garlic pastes, coconut, tamarind puree and the spices (turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder) together into a smooth paste.
5. Take a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil in it. Add the green chiles and the masala paste to the oil and sauté continuously until you see oil leaving the sides.
6. Once the masala is cooked, add around 3 cups of water (or as per desired consistency of gravy) for gravy, and bring it to boil.
7. Cook the gravy on a simmering flame for about 5-7 minutes. Add salt to taste.
8. Add the crab pieces to the gravy gently and cook on a simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn off the flame.
9. Serve hot with steamed rice!

Squid/Kanavai

Known by several names like Calamari, Kanavai, Kommeri, and Murimeen, squid is extremely flexible meat in terms of cooking as you can pretty much grill it, sear it, boil it, braise it, fry it, or even have it raw in the form of sashimi!

A powerhouse of omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin C, iron, and calcium, squid meat is also a smart choice for seafood-lovers transitioning into a high-protein diet. Its soft meat, singular flavor and general bonelessness easily place it among the top 10 most desirable seafood varieties. We at TenderCuts have this uniquely flavourful and textured meat available throughout the year.

For those of you who like to experiment, especially with Asian cuisines, this recipe of Thai Chili Squid is bound to get your mouth-watering:

Ingredients

Squid/Kanavai: 2-3

Stir Fry Sauce:

Ground bean sauce, or ground soybeans – 1 heaped tbsp

Brown sugar – 2 tsp

Fish Sauce – 1 tbsp

Soy sauce – 1 tbsp

Chili Sauce – 1-2 tsp (or) Green Chilies, chopped – 1-2

Cooking:

Carrot, sliced – 1

Green beans, slit into 2-inch pieces : ½ – 1 cup

Fresh basil leaves – ½ cup

Garlic cloves – 3

Ginger, julienned – ¾ inch

Eggplant (small), chopped – 1

Oil, for stir-frying – 2 tbsp

Fresh coriander leaves (optional) – 1 handful

Shiitake mushroom, chopped (optional) – 1 handful

Glass noodles or rice noodles – 250g

Chicken stock or vegetable stock – ½ cup

Soy sauce – 2 tbsp

Sesame oil – 1tsp

The Process:

1. Take noodles in a bowl, add warm water and cover the bowl as the noodles soften.
2. Take your fresh squid tubes on a cutting board and slide your knife along one side of the squid to open each tube. Now slice these pieces into bite-sized chunks and set aside.
3. Mix the chicken stock, sesame oil and soy sauce together in a bowl, and then bring them to boil in a pan.
4. Take the pan off the flame, and add the drained noodles. Stir well and set aside after covering.
5. Take a wok and heat 1-2 tbsps of oil on medium-high heat. Add in the ginger, garlic, mushrooms, eggplant, carrots and beans. Stir-fry it all together till the vegetables become soft.
6. To this, add the squid chunks as well as the stir fry sauce. Make sure not to cook the squid for more than 3 minutes, as it gets over-cooked and rubbery quite easily.
7. Do a taste test. If you want your curry to be more salty, add a couple of tbsp of fish sauce. To balance out sourness, add a few pinches of brown sugar.
8. To serve your Thai Chili squid, place the soaked noodles on a plate, and top up with the stir-fried squid and veggies. Garnish with fresh basil and coriander, and dig in!