Ceylon Curry of Oysters

Ceylon Curry of Oysters
Tom Schierlitz for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Jill Santopietro.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(62)
Comments
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This recipe appeared in The Times in an article by Charlotte Hughes. In Hughes's original recipe, she called for three bay leaves; I used only one. And since chilies are now commonly available, I used a serrano rather than the sweet green pepper that Hughes suggested.

Featured in: Recipe Redux; 1939: Ceylon Curry of Oysters

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 2
  • 2tablespoons butter or coconut oil
  • 4small shallots, finely chopped
  • 1clove garlic, minced
  • ½serrano or Thai chili, seeded and minced
  • 1tablespoon curry powder
  • 1large pinch turmeric
  • 1cinnamon stick
  • 3cloves
  • 1bay leaf
  • 1cup coconut milk
  • Salt
  • 12oysters, shucked, liquor reserved
  • Juice of ½ lemon
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

669 calories; 45 grams fat; 34 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 37 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 34 grams protein; 1246 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots, garlic and chili, and sauté until softened and starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the curry powder, turmeric, cinnamon stick, cloves and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute.

  2. Step 2

    Reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk and ½ teaspoon salt. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add the oysters and their liquor; simmer until the oysters are just firm, 3 to 4 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and add lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve over rice -- the rice in the fish recipe that follows would go well -- or on hoppers (see the recipe at nytimes.com/magazine).

Ratings

4 out of 5
62 user ratings
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Comments

This is a terrific dish. Didn't have shallots, used scallions---didnt have any chilis, used tabasco. Put about two dozen oysters in and ate the whole thing myself, over white rice. Wonderful!

Great recipe to play around with. Add cilantro, lemon peel instead of juice, a little soy sauce, half the coconut milk, green curry paste,, yada, yada. Just be sure not to either over or under cook the oysters.

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes ever!

Delicious dish. A dozen oysters makes it enough for one, though.

The Bay leaf: Since she got advice for the recipe from an Indian shop, the article says, I bet the bay leaf called for is supposed to be an Indian bay leaf, a tejpat, which comes from a different tree and has more of a cinnamon flavor than the western Bay Laurel. Often in Indian recipes they do call for a Bay leaf but virtually all of them would be referring to the Indian bay leaf and not the one from the Laurel tree.

Where is the "rice for the fish recipe that follows"? This was really good on plain long-grained white rice.

2 cups basmati rice 4 cups rice milk 2 Tbs coconut cream (or coconut milk) 3 Tbs shredded unsweetened coconut 2 bay leaves ¼ serrano chili seeded & minced 2 Tbs thin sliced chives In large pan with lid, combine rice, rice milk, coconut cream, shredded coconut, bay leaves, chili and 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon regular salt). Let sit for 30 minutes, then cover pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 17 min. Turn off heat, let sit for 5-10 min. Stir in chives.

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