Kedgeree

Eggball

Here's a recipe for kedgeree, a staple of old India hands in the days of the Empire. It's quite easy to make and delicious. I have it quite often and any wrinkles you have on it would be welcome.

Ingredients:
Smoked fish - I used haddock, but any smoked fish will do. Smoked salmon is delicious, but very salty: you're mouth will be watering for hours. 200g per person is about enough, though you can have more if you like. It should be chopped or sliced into bite sized pieces.

Onion - I'm quite liberal with this, often using two good size ones as they go in first and can shrivel if they're in the pan too long. Peeled and chopped to your taste. I generally chop them quite small.

Curry Powder - Again, to your taste, but I find the mild curry is quite enough. The stronger the curry, the darker the mix and the less visually attractive the dish. If you're cooking for company, that could be a consideration.

Rice - I use risotto rice, but basmati or any other kind will do. About 30g per person eating.

Stock - The one you like. If you like chicken, fine. Vegetable? OK. Indeed, I've seen kedgeree cooked with water being used to boil leeks in the pan on the next hob. Fish stock is the preferred option, although I find that it can be hard to get, and if you're going to make the stock yourself it rather defeats the purpose of making a relatively easy meal like kedgeree.

Eggs - Hard boiled. Just hard boiled, no tricks or wrinkles; one for each person eating.

Frozen Peas - or any vegetable(s) you like, but remember the mix can only absorb so much and I find frozen peas to be the easiest and tastiest.



Method:
I use a good, wide roasting pan, or if you have one, a le cruset pot or even a big wok. If you're not using a non-stick pan, you'll have to keep this lot stirring (and you shouldn't leave it unstirred too long even with a not-stick pan), so have your ingredients weighed and measured and standing by before you begin.

Start with the onions. Chop and saute gently in a little oil, then toss in a half a teaspoonful of the curry until the onion starts to tan.

When the you think the curry is absorbed enough into the onions (usually only takes a minute or so) start to spoon the DRY rice into the onions, bit by bit. The idea at this point is to get the rice to absorb the flavour of the curried onion.

When you've spooned in the rice, begin to pour in the stock. DON'T dump it all in; pour it in a ladle at a time. You should hear it sizzling as it cooks. As each dose of stock is absorbed by the rice, pour in another. Keep doing this until the rice is almost cooked, but remember you're not making a stew; when you've finished, you should be eating a dry meal.

A few minutes before the rice is ready, pitch in the chopped fish. It should only take a few minutes to warm and cook through and if you leave it much longer it will start to disintegrate. At the same time, drain the peas (which you will, of course, have been cooking on another hob) and stir them into the mix. You can, if you wish, scramble the boiled eggs in a bowl and toss them into the mix with the peas at this point, and make up a delicious mixture. Alternatively, you can simply cut the eggs into quarters and place them on top of the the rice mix as you serve each person. This is the more traditional form, but I have to confess, I like the scrambled variety.

The cooking usually takes about twenty minutes, although it takes almost as long again to prepare the ingredients. Not exactly fast food, but I find it delicious on a Saturday afternoon when I have a little time to cook and I don't want to eat out of a packet.

Let me know what you think.

dh0661

Looks good - I'll give it a try during the week and let you know what I think.
Thanks

the beer revolu

That's what I always considered Kedgeree to be too but I had an Indian house mate a few years ago and he called any one pot, rice based, whatever's in the fridge dish Kedgeree.

His often was;

In a bowl put a chopped onion, couple of tomatoes chopped, a potato chopped, a handfull of rice (any kind) some garlic, fresh ginger, turmeric, garam masala, salt, pepper. Add a little orange juice and some water or stock. Put in microwave and cook for about 15 mins or until the rice and potato are cooked. Take out and stir a few times and add more liquid as necessary.

It's a fantastic throw everything in a bowl and bung it in the microwave, really tasty comfort food dish. The ingredients can be varied as you like.