National Dishes of the World

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Octopus curry
Photo: Jubair1985, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

main dish

Octopus curry

kari zourit

Tender octopus simmered in a creamy coconut-milk curry – a classic of Seychellois Creole cooking.

Eaten in: Seychelles

Prep
20 min
Cooking
1 h 30 min
Total
1 h 50 min
Servings
4

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About the dish

Kari zourit, octopus curry, is one of the Seychelles’ most characteristic dishes. The octopus is first simmered for a long time until tender, then braised in a mild, fragrant sauce of onion, garlic, ginger and curry powder, rounded off with coconut milk. Many cooks also add cinnamon or curry leaves, with a little tamarind or tomato for tang. It is served with white rice and chatini chutneys made, for example, from papaya, mango or aubergine. On the islands curries are also made with fish, chicken or breadfruit.

Main ingredients

  • octopus
  • coconut milk
  • onion
  • garlic
  • ginger
  • curry powder

Recipe

Octopus curry

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/octopus-curry

Ingredients

4 servings

4 servings

Method

  1. Rinse the octopus, put it into a pan of boiling, lightly salted water and simmer gently for 45–60 minutes until a knife slides easily into the thick part of a tentacle.

  2. Drain the octopus, keeping a cupful of the cooking liquid, and cut it into 2–3 cm pieces.

  3. Fry the cinnamon and curry leaves in the oil, add the chopped onion and cook until soft.

  4. Add the crushed garlic and ginger, curry powder and turmeric and fry for a minute, then stir in the chopped tomato.

  5. Add the octopus, pour in the coconut milk and a little of the cooking liquid and simmer uncovered for 15–20 minutes until the sauce thickens.

  6. Season with salt and serve with rice and chutneys.

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