Curried Oysters

History

The use of tamarind, coconut, and a heavy spice profile identifies this dish as a product of the Coromandel Coast, specifically the culinary sphere of Madras (modern Chennai). In South Indian coastal cookery, the technique of simmering seafood in a coconut-milk and tamarind base—providing a balance of creamy fat and sharp acidity—was well established long before European contact, utilizing local catches like prawns and pomfret.

This specific iteration represents a merger-tradition: the marriage of Indian spice-craft with the British Empire's obsession with oysters. During the 18th and 19th centuries, British officials and traders in India adapted local 'curry' techniques to the ingredients they prized from home or the local coast, substituting traditional fish for the high-status oyster. This created a hybrid 'Anglo-Indian' style of cookery that sought to replicate the heat and depth of Indian stews while maintaining the texture of Western seafood.

By the mid-19th century, these hybrid recipes filtered back to England via colonial journals and domestic manuals. Eliza Acton's 1845 work, Modern Cookery for Private Families, documents this specific Madras-style preparation, though she admits it was sourced from the Magazine of Domestic Economy and not tested in her own kitchen. The recipe serves as a linguistic and culinary bridge, attempting to translate 'the ne plus ultra of Indian cookery' for a Victorian middle-class audience in London.

Ingredients

• 100 whole large sea-oysters
• fresh butter
• 1 large onion
• 2–3 tablespoonsful currie-powder
• hot water or broth
• 1 whole cocoa-nut
• a few sour tamarinds
• 1 cupful thickening
• salt
• 1 whole or part vegetable marrow
• 1–2 whole tomata
• 1/2 whole lemon

Instructions

1. Open the oysters into a basin without losing any of their liquor and set aside.
2. Put a lump of fresh butter into a good-sized saucepan and allow it to boil.
3. Add the sliced onion and let it fry in the uncovered pan until it takes on a rich brown colour.
4. Add a bit more butter and the currie-powder, stirring well with a wooden spoon over the fire until the ingredients are well mixed.
5. Gradually add hot water or broth from the stock-pot, stirring as you go.
6. Cover the stewpan and let the whole boil up.
7. Prepare the grated cocoa-nut meat and add it to the stewpan along with the sour tamarinds or chopped sour apple.
8. Let the entire mixture simmer over the fire until the apple or tamarind is dissolved and the cocoa-nut is very tender.
9. Add the cupful of strong flour-and-water thickening and sufficient salt to the currie.
10. Let this boil up for five minutes.
11. Prepare the vegetable marrow (if using) by cutting it into bits and boiling it sufficiently so it requires little further cooking.
12. Add the marrow and tomata (if using) to the stewpan.
13. Add the oysters with all their reserved liquor and the milk of the cocoa-nut (if it is perfectly sweet) to the stewpan.
14. Stir well to combine the oysters with the other ingredients.
15. Let the currie stew gently for a few minutes.
16. Add the strained juice of half a lemon and stir from time to time with a wooden spoon.
17. As soon as the oysters are done enough, serve the currie with a corresponding dish of rice on the opposite side of the table.