Kedgeree is wonderfully comforting, especially after a hard night, and very easy to make. To enrich it at the end and make a lighter dish, I’ve used plain yogurt instead of the more usual butter or cream. Hot-smoked trout or even mackerel work just as well as smoked haddock, but in these cases use plain water to cook the rice.
SERVES 4–6
INGREDIENTS
KEDGEREE
- 2 bay leaves
- 1½ pounds undyed smoked haddock fillets, pin-boned
- 3 cups water
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter or ghee
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped, or 1 bunch of scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
- Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 Tbsp curry powder
- 1 Tbsp mustard seeds
- 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- 1 cup long-grain or basmati rice
- Juice of 2 lemons
- ½ cup plain yogurt
TO SERVE
- 2 good handfuls of cilantro, leaves chopped
- 1 red chile, seeded and finely chopped
- 4 large eggs, boiled for about 5 minutes with yolks left soft, peeled and halved
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat 3 cups water and the bay leaves in a large frying pan and bring to a simmer. Put in the haddock, skin side up, and simmer for 5 minutes until the fish feels flaky and is cooked through. Remove with a fish spatula and drain on a plate. Reserve the cooking liquid.
- In a second pan, melt the butter, add the garlic and onion, and gently sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the ginger, curry powder, mustard seeds, and tomatoes and cook for an additional 3 minutes until the onions have softened.
- Add the rice, stir a couple of times to coat it in the butter, then gradually add the lemon juice and cooking liquid from the fish, stirring well after each addition. (This should take about 20 minutes.)
- Carefully pull the skin off the haddock and flake the flesh, checking for any bones, then stir into the rice along with the yogurt.
- To serve, divide the kedgeree among 4–6 warmed serving plates, sprinkle on the cilantro and chile, top with the eggs, and season with salt and pepper.
