CEYLON CURRY OF OYSTERS

Ceylon Curry of Oysters image

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.

Provided by Amanda Hesser

Time 15m

Yield Serves 2

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
4 small shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 serrano or Thai chili, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 large pinch turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 cup coconut milk
Salt
12 oysters, shucked, liquor reserved
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Steps:

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.
Reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk and 1/2 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).

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 667, UnsaturatedFat 7 grams, Carbohydrate 38 grams, Fat 45 grams, Fiber 6 grams, Protein 34 grams, SaturatedFat 35 grams, Sodium 1253 milligrams, Sugar 7 grams, TransFat 0 grams