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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Kedgeree - my way!

There is an absolute myriad of rice dishes across the planet.  Its a known fact that rice is one of the most consumed foods in the world - they probably even have a dish on Mars!  I have tried my hand at pilafs, pulaos and biryani from my native India and can even cook up a mean Spanish paella.  I am not one to ever turn down a creamy risotto and I can always go for a sushi hand roll.  My ultimate craving usually finds me hankering for a piping hot fried rice complete with "wok breath" - satisfaction guaranteed!
An unlikely entrant in the rice dish stakes is Kedgeree - apparently from Britain.  The closest thing to kedgeree is an Indian dish made with rice and lentils called "kichiri".  Kedgeree appears to be the British adaptation of this staple Indian dish with a couple of additions, minus the lentils, and one major difference - it is consumed for breakfast - so it is practically a different dish altogether.  Kedgeree usually includes smoked or poached fish fillets which are flaked through the curry flavoured rice and also hard boiled eggs - it is breakfast after all.
My take on this dish renders it far from a breakfast dish as I probably would be hard pressed to find a time when I have eaten rice, the first thing in the morning.  Notably there are a lot of South East Asian countries who also have rice on their opening menu and I don't think that there is anything wrong with it - I'm more of a cereal and milk kind of guy.  This recipe will produce a lovely golden yellow rice, thanks to the addition of turmeric and I have upped the spices to boost the flavour.  You will notice the change to poached eggs as I am very partial to the gooey yolk instead of the hard boiled one.
Ingredients, to serve 4 - for lunch or dinner...or breakfast if you must!
2 cups x Long Grain Rice, washed and drained
2-3 fillets x boneless fish fillets
2 cups x Milk, combined with ½ tsp Turmeric powder
1 cup x Water
2 tsp x Fish Stock powder (substitute chicken stock if unavailable)
2 tbsp x Oil (ghee or butter if you fancy)
1 x small Onion, diced  
2 cloves x Garlic, finely sliced
2 x Red Chillies, finely chopped
1 x Bay Leaf
1 tsp x Cumin seeds
1 tsp x Black Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Turmeric powder
2 tsp x Curry powder
2 x Tomatoes, sliced
4 x Free Range Eggs, at room temperature
Coriander leaves, chopped to garnish (optional)
Pepper to garnish
Salt to taste
Directions
Place the turmeric and milk in a deep rimmed skillet and heat on medium
When milk begins to bubble stir in the powdered stock then add the fish
Allow the fish to gently poach for 10-15 minutes then remove from liquid and keep aside, reserve liquid
Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the onion, garlic and chillies, stir gently for a minute
Now add the bay leaf, cumin and mustard seeds and fry for a few seconds
Sprinkle in the turmeric powder, stir through and then the curry powder followed by the tomatoes
Pour the washed and drained rice into the mixture stirring well to coat
Increase the heat up to high and add in the reserved poaching liquid plus a cup of water
Check seasoning and add salt if necessary
Bring the dish up to boil then cover and place on the stove with the lowest heat
Allow to cook without opening the lid for 10 minutes
In the mean time flake the poached fish with a fork into chunks
Add the flakes to the surface of the rice, cover lid again and cook for a further 5 minutes
Using a fork again gently fluff the rice being careful not to mash the fish
With the back of a spoon make a four evenly spaced indents in the rice
Now gently crack the eggs into the round indents
Cover the dish once more and cook on low heat for 5 minutes
Remove from heat and rest for 10 minutes before serving 
Garnish with coriander leaves if using and a good grind of pepper
Serve with a chutney, relish or spicy Indian pickle    

1 comment:

I'm always curious as to what my readers think...and even more curiouser when they cook my recipes...so let me know either way and leave a comment - Please don't SPAM me!