Culinary jottings

(c) — Choose a very large cocoanut, the fresher the better, break it in half, and, with a cocoanut scraper, remove the whole of the white flesh, casting it into a bowl. Upon the raspings thus obtained, pour a breakfast-cupful of boiling water, leave it for a quarter of an hour, and then strain the liquid off. This is the best or "number one" infusion, which must be put away, and not added to the curry till the last thing before serving. Return the raspings to their bowl, and pour over them a pint and a half of boiling water, stir well, and let the liquid stand for half an hour. It should then be strained, and the nutty atoms squeezed dry in muslin, so that every drop of the cocoanut essence may be secured. The liquor thus obtained is the " mimher two'' infusion. Our preparations are now complete. {d) — Put two ounces of good tinned butter into a stewpan, and mix into it, as it melts over a brisk fire, a white Bombay onion sliced into rings, and a clove of garlic finely minced. Lightly fry, but do not allow the onions to turn colour before adding a table-spoonful of good flour, a dessert-spoonful of turmeric powder, a tea- spoonful of salt, and a scant one of sugar, a tea-spoonful of mixed cloves and cinnamon powder, and, by degrees, the " number two infusion." A breakfast-cupful of thick chicken broth, or fish consomme — made by simmering some fish bones, prawn shells, and scraps of fish, in water, with an onion, a carrot, and some parsley — may now go in to assist the composition, together with a heaped-up tablespoonful of sliced green ginger, and three green chillies cut into Julienne-like strips. The liquid is now ready for the prawns, so remove the stew-pan from the fire, and place it in a bath of boiling water, to keep warm, while you add the prawns and the slices of partly-cooked cucumber. It will be found an excellent plan to permit the curry — now all but ready — to rest for about half an hour, at the expiration of which the pan may be placed over a moderate fire, and its contents brought to simmering point. When satisfied that both the prawns and vegetable are tender, the " number one" infusion may be stirred in, and with it a tea-spoonful of lime-juice. Five minutes' simmering will now complete our task, and the curry can be dished up, and served. It should be noted carefully that the water found inside a cocoanut is not " cocoanut milk" according to the culinary vocabulary. The infusion is what should be used in curry-making. Fillets of any firm-fleshed fish, or even neat fillets of chicken, may be treated precisely in the manner I have described. As, however, it is necessary partly to cook prawns, crabs, lobsters, shrimps, &c., separately, a longer process of simmering will be necessary for raw fillets. The pieces of chicken should be lightly tossed in butter in a sauté-pan with a finely-shred onion, before being put into the curry sauce.