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Curry of Oysters with Cocoa-nut

A coconut-based oyster curry simmered with tamarind or apple, thickened with flour and water, served over rice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tamarind and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 137 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Curry of Oysters with Cocoa-nut

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine the grated coconut and sour tamarinds (or chopped apple) in a stew-pan.

  2. Simmer over low heat until the apple dissolves and the coconut is tender.

  3. Add the thickening and salt, then boil for 5 minutes.

  4. Add the boiled vegetable marrow and tomatoes (if using).

Add the oysters and serve

  1. Stir in the oysters with their liquor and the coconut milk.

  2. Let the curry stew gently for a few minutes, then add the lemon juice.

  3. Stir occasionally until the oysters are cooked, then serve with rice.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tamarind + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together137 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Tamarind + lemontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together170 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Milk + cocoatop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together643 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Tomato + lemontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Tamarind + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together111 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Provide the main seafood flavour and tender texture when gently cooked.
Milk of the cocoa-nut
Adds richness and body, giving the curry a creamy, mellow base.
Thickening (flour and water)
Thickens the liquid so the curry becomes a cohesive sauce rather than thin.
Sour tamarinds
Supply the sourness that balances the sweet coconut.
Vegetable marrow
Adds bulk and mild sweetness, absorbing the flavours of the curry.

The step that matters

Cooking the oysters. Oysters turn firm and rubbery if overcooked. Adding them late and stirring gently until just cooked keeps them tender.

Swap the tomato

The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, tamarind, flour, oyster, milk, cocoa, lemon):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Arrowrootfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, tamarind, flour, oyster, milk, cocoa, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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