Kedgeree
Kedgeree was invented by the British in India during the British Raj. The name probably comes from the Indian dish khichri, or rice and pulses cooked together, but kedgeree has no pulses, and in fact more resembles a . But the British were, and are, slapdash about their cooking. The original kedgeree was made by the British on the servants' day off. The one thing you could guarantee to find in the kitchen was cooked rice, boiled eggs and fish, and kedgeree is just these mixed together. It can be dry and tasteless. So I have invented my own version.
Ingredients
rice
onion
other
curry spices or stock
oil for frying
smoked mackerel fillet
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Equipment
knife and board for chopping
saucepan
spoon for stirring
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time:
frying ingredients
ten minutes to cook rice
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Cooking process
- Put a little oil in the saucepan for frying. Peel and chop the plus any other ingredients and fry this for a bit. If you are using curry spaces, add them to the mix and fry a bit more.
- Take off the skin of the mackerel, break it apart into pieces, and cut them into smaller pieces if necessary. Add to the saucepan.
- Add the rice to the saucepan. Add (if you are using it) and water. . Since this is not just boiled rice, the mixture may stick, so keep an eye on it while cooking, and stir to stop it sticking to the saucepan and burning.
Other ideas
- The original kedgeree is smoked fish (usually haddock), chopped boiled eggs and rice mixed together. I find it rather dull and dry, so the recipe above tries to make it tastier. I've left out the boiled egg! You could add it if you want.
- Smoked mackerel has a good taste. Kipper is fine apart from the tiny bones. (Yes, I know they're supposed to be removed, but there's always some still left, aren't there?) But use any fish you want as long as it tastes of something. Salmon is nice, but you will need to cook it first.
- I recommend either using stock for cooking the rice, or some curry spices added to the frying stage (or both) in order to add some flavour. You can use any curry spices that you like - I use corriander and cinnamon, but ordinary curry powder is fine. You could add chilli for more bite, if you wish. One problem with using spices is that the rice becomes brown!
- This is quite a casual recipe, so add anything else that you'd like, or have available. is good. The photo includes almonds and capers as well, just because I had some around.
© Jo Edkins 2015 -