Kedgeree

Serves 4

Ingredients

• two or three good-sized fillets of smoked haddock (I prefer undyed but it can be harder to find)
• 300 ml milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 8 eggs
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1.5 cups of basmati rice, washed and soaked
• a small bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• salt
• lemon to serve

Method

1. Add the milk, bay leaves, and garam masala to a pan large enough to take the haddock fillets in a single layer, and bring it to a simmer. Once it’s reached a simmer, add the haddock fillets, cover, and turn off the heat. Leave for about 10 minutes. Then, remove the fish and save for later. Strain the milk into a jug.
2. Hard boil the eggs. I like to use J. Kenji López-Alt’s method for easy-to-peel eggs. I usually let them cook for 10 minutes, then straight into a cold bath before peeling them.
3. Gently fry the chopped onion and garlic for five minutes, then stir in the mild curry powder. Once ithe mixture is fragrant, stir in the rice and add a good pinch of salt.
4. For 1.5 cups of rice I like to use a little over 2 cups of liquid. I add one cup of the reserved milk, and one cup of water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and turn the heat down as low as it will go for about 10 minutes.
5. While the rice is cooking, chop the parsley and flake the fish (discarding any skin if it was present). When the 10 minutes is up, check the rice to make sure the liquid has been absorbed, then top the rice with three quarters of the parsley and the flaked fish. Put a sheet of kitchen towel over the top of the pan, then re-cover, turn the heat off, and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
6. While the rice is resting, cut each boiled egg into 4 quarters.
7. Gently stir the rice, fish, and parsley into each other, then split between bowls. Add the boiled eggs and garnish with the remaining parsley. Serve with wedges of lemon.