Kedgeree looks like a lot going on, but it's really just three simple things -- fish, rice, egg -- brought together with a spoonful of curry powder.
Ingredients
- 300g smoked haddock
- 300g basmati rice
- 4 eggs
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 30g butter
- A bay leaf
- Parsley and lemon wedges, to serve
Method
- Poach the smoked haddock gently in a pan of water or milk for about 8 minutes, until it flakes easily. Remove, flake into large pieces, and discard the skin.
- Boil the eggs (see our boiled eggs guide) until hard-boiled, then cool, peel, and quarter.
- Cook the rice with the bay leaf according to the packet instructions, then drain.
- Soften the onion in the butter, add the curry powder, and cook for a minute until fragrant.
- Stir the rice and flaked fish through the onion mixture, warming everything gently.
- Fold in the eggs, scatter with parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.
Where it came from: kedgeree evolved from khichdi, an Indian rice-and-lentil dish, after British colonials in India encountered it in the 17th and 18th centuries and adapted it with smoked fish and eggs for their own breakfast tables. By the Victorian era it was a fixture of the British breakfast spread.
Related reading
Another dish with South Asian roots that became a British favourite: our egg curry. See all egg recipes.