19 Feb 2016 – Yellywelly

A few weeks back I finally started making kedgeree. I remember seeing cooking shows in Manila talking about kedgeree. The idea of a curried rice dish appealed to my very Filipino palate. We have rice with everything. Plus, in the shows, it looked like a very easy dish to do. I never got around to making it.

So when Alan announced we should try to make kedgeree, I was excited. I’d seen the Hairy Bikers and the Spice Men (Cyrus Todiwala and Tony Singh) do their versions and I always end up wishing I could try it myself. So I searched for a relatively easy looking recipe. I wasn’t sure it was going to work but I was hoping it would.

And it did! And it was good!

So after making it once, I made notes, tried to remember what my thoughts were on improving the taste (mostly add more salt!). I’ve done it a few more times but this time, I think I’m brave enough to share my version of how to make a quick and easy version of kedgeree.

Ingredients:

4 fillets of smoked haddock (can be just 2, I just like a lot of fish in my kedgeree)
500ml water
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, minced
2 tbsp curry powder (I used medium)
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground dried coriander
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp salt
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp vegetable oil
400g basmati rice
500ml water
25g flat leave parsley, chopped finely
25g coriander, chopped finely
6 hard boiled eggs, quartered (optional)

Directions:

In a saucepan, heat up 500ml of water and add bay leaves. When the water starts simmering, add smoked haddock fillets. Allow the water to come to a boil and turn down the heat to medium and allow the haddock to poach until it turns a light colour. Poach for 10 minutes.
Once the haddock has poached, drain water and allow the fish to cool. Once cool to touch, peel off the skin and flake the fish into large flakes.
In a pan, heat up the vegetable oil and add the onions. Allow onions to become translucent and slightly brown around the edges on medium heat. Add curry powder, turmeric, ginger, cumin, and dried coriander and heat until spices become aromatic. Add the lemon juice to form a paste.
Add rice and mix until the rice grains are coated with the spice-lemon paste.

Add salt to spice and rice mixture. Mix until everything is well-incorporated. Pour 500ml of water and mix slightly. Cover pan and allow water to boil. Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and allow rice to cook and absorb the water. Cook covered for 10 minutes on low.
Once rice is cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed, stir in flaked fish and chopped parsley and coriander.
Top with hard boiled eggs and serve.

My recipe has a bit more spice, a bit more salt. But that’s to my taste. Feel free to customise to your taste. If you try the recipe, I’d love to know how you get on! I have fallen completely in love with this beautifully spiced rice comfort dish.