Curry of Cod

Curry of Cod is a traditional British recipe, based on Maria Rundell's recipe of 1806, for a classic dish of firmed cod and onions in a white bechamel base flavoured with curry powder and cayenne pepper and thickened with roux. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Curry of Cod.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

35 minutes

Total Time:

55 minutes

Serves:

2–3

Rating:

Tags : Curry Sauce Recipes Spice Recipes British Recipes

This is a curry recipe from Maria Rundell's 1806 Domestic Cookery and represents a late Georgian take on Indian curry. In essence it's pieces of firmed cod fried with onions, stewed in white gravy, thickened with a butter and flour roux and finished with curry powder, cream and cayenne pepper.

The term 'sprinkled' in the original recipe means lightly salted. If you would like to make crimped as called for in this recpe, I have Mrs Beeton's recipe for crimped cod on this site.

Note that the 'white gravy' referred to here is basically a bechamel sauce, but made with a meat base and then strained. I provide a link to my interpretation of Maria Rundell's recipe in the ingredients section.

Original Recipe

Curry of Cod,

Should be made of sliced cod that has either been crimped, or sprinkled a day to make it firm. Fry it of a fine brown, with onions, and stew it with a good white gravy, a little curry powder, a bit of butter and flour, three or four spoonfuls of rich cream, salt and Cayenne.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

500g cod (or similar white fish)
1 onion, sliced into thin strips
4 tbsp butter
500ml (2 cups) white gravy (for a simpler and cheaper white gravy use Francatelli's recipe for White Béchamel Sauce or Cream Béchamel Sauce or Francatelli White Sauce)
2 tsp curry powder (a mild Madras would be appropriate)
1 tbsp butter blended to a smooth paste with 2 tsp flour
4 tbsp double cream
sea salt, to taste
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Method:

Add the butter to a pan over medium heat. When the butter is foaming, add the fish and onions. Fry, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, util the fish and onions are lightly browned.

Add the white gravy then scatter over and stir in the curry powder. Bring to a simmer then add the butter and flour roux, stirring until combined.

Cook for 5 minutes then stir in the cream, season to taste with salt and add the cayenne pepper. Stir well once again then continue cooking, stirring, for about 10 minutes, until everything is heated through.

Serve hot with rice.