Kedgeree

This is an old colonial dish, said to have been created as a mix of kitcherie, a classic Indian dish of rice and legumes and a Scottish addition through smoked haddock.

This recipe is an adaptation of Jamie Oliver’s recipe. I prefer to make things a little easier and quicker, and so I use pre-cooked, smoked haddock. I also prefer to use poached eggs rather than the boiled eggs used in the classic version of the recipe. This is due to my South East Asian influence, where poached eggs are used to add extra richness to the dish.

This may sound like a strange list of ingredients to put together, but it is an amazing cacophony of taste.

The dish is also protein rich, allergen free and is good served any time of day.

You might think it odd that I am cooking an Indian influenced dish, but you should expect to see more of this.

As most of you will know, my best friend and grandma passed recently. It was very sudden and the day she was admitted to hospital was the day she was due to fly out to visit me in the states. She had packed her suitcase full of ingredients as this was going to be the start of her passing down her recipes to me. I had recently moved to the USA and was missing her dishes so much, that we hatched this plan for when she was over.

My grandma’s food was nourishing and fulfilling but not just to the body, to the soul also. Everything she cooked was so tasty and good for you. She even cooked meat without tasting it, due to being vegan for over 30 years. I was her official taster but nothing ever needed adding to. I can’t even begin to imagine how you do that.

I miss my grandma everyday and hope that in cooking her dishes I can be closure to her and bring some comfort to my family.

Please bare with me as practically the only Indian food I ate and liked was my grandmas, so this will be a new adventure for me and you (and poor Mr. B, who is my official taster).

I hope you are happy to travel it with me!

Ingredients

• 2 large free-range eggs
• 2 smoked haddock fillets, from sustainable sources, cooked and smoked already
• 170 g wild rice
• Sea salt
• 1 tablespoon pure ghee
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 medium onion 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 heaped tablespoons curry powder
• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 2 lemons, juice of
• 2 good handfuls fresh coriander, leaves picked and chopped
• 1 fresh red chili, finely chopped

Optional

• Natural yogurt, if you are not dairy free and need to cool the spice from the chili down

Method

• Poach two eggs for 5-7 minutes and put aside
• Remove the skin from the fish, flake into chunks and set aside
• Cook the rice in salted water for 30 minutes and drain. Refresh in cold water, drain again, and leave in the fridge until needed.
• Melt the ghee in a pan over a low heat.
• Add the ginger, onion and garlic. Soften for about 5 minutes and add the curry powder. Cook for a further few minutes, and add the chopped tomatoes and lemon juice.
• Add the fish and rice to a pan and gently heat through
• Add the coriander and the chili and stir gently.
• Place in a warm serving dish and add the poached egg and the rest of the coriander before serving