Crab Cakes baked with a Goan flair

I love crab cakes, but have no patience to pick out crab meat from their shells in any quantity worth making a dish with.  In addition buying fresh lump crab meat is very pricey. This recipe can be made by any novice cook, and takes advantage of canned crab meat. I used 3 cans of salad crab meat and 1 can of lump crab meat  which added a bit of chunkiness.  You can use all lump crab meat. I served this with a beetroot and corn salad served on a bed of Boston lettuce.

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Gadgets needed

Chopping board, can opener, a medium sized glass bowl and a strainer.

Ingredients

4 cans of crab meat (approx 480 g)
3 tsp ginger finely minced
3 large cloves garlic finely minced
1 green chilly chopped with seeds
1 teaspoon hot mustard powder
2/3 cup light mayonnaise
1 egg beaten
juice of 1 whole lime
1/2 -1 teaspoon hot sauce (sriracha)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs
About 2 - 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander
Side sauce:  (optional)
1/4 cup light Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce ( or to taste)

Method

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Line and grease a baking sheet  (I use a cooking spray)
Strain the canned crab meat, and squeeze in handfuls to eliminate any liquid. This is an important step. Put squeezed crab meat in a bowl. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and chilly. Stir to mix well. Add the mayonnaise, beaten egg mustard and lime juice. Stir well again to mix.
The mixture will be a little soft at this stage.
Add 1/2 cup of parmesan and mix.
Now add the panko and mix.  The mixture should now be a little stiff but not dry.
If it is too soft to manage or to form a ball that stays, add more parmesan and a little more panko.
Take a large spoon full of the mixture and form into a rough ball.  Place it on the baking sheet and flatten slightly to look like a crab cake. Continue till all mixture is finished. I got approx 12 crab cakes. Put the tray in the refrigerator for at least an hour before baking.
Spray the top of the crab cakes lightly with cooking spray and put in oven for 15-20 minutes until nicely browned and firm.
Mix the teaspoon of sriracha well with the mayonnaise and serve with crab cakes.

# Servings: 4-6
Nutrition value per crab cake : calories 80, Fat 4.4 g, cholesterol 27 mg, sodium 140.2 mg, Potassium 17 mg, Carbohydrates 3.3 g, protein 6.9 g