Crispy Soft-Shell Crabs with Bangalore-Style Dipping Sauce

Andrew Zimmern’s Kitchen AdventuresSeveral years ago, I worked for a soft-shell crab company out of Maryland and spent four years studying, eating and cooking the shellfish. I traveled the world testing recipes and visiting soft-crab fisheries and I came to consider myself something of an expert. One year, at the Boston Seafood Show, the owner of the company introduced me to a gentleman who owned the largest crab processing facility in India. He loved my recipes, which I was serving at the booth, but he told me the next day he would make me a sauce for fried crab that would knock my socks off. He did, and I have been making that sauce ever since. Thanks, Vikram! Indian seafood recipes are not as popular as other dishes from that amazing culinary culture—but they should be. Check out this recipe and you will be sold. It’s a great break from the soft-crab po’boys and meunière-style preparations that we are all a little tired of. At least I am.—Andrew Zimmern