15 Minute Kedgeree

Kedgeree is a deliciously hearty dish that combines rice, smoked fish, egg and fragrant spices to make a satisfying yet light and healthy dish.

I’d recommend spending a few moments reading the following for useful information and tips on making this 15 minute kedgeree. If you’d prefer though, skip to the middle of the page for step-by-step instructions or jump to the bottom for quick recipe.

Note that 15 minutes is the approximate time to make this dish after you’ve gathered all of your ingredients. Actual preparation times may vary slightly due to factors like knife skills and how quickly your hob heats up.

Traditional Flavours in One Quick Recipe

Thought to have originated in India hundreds of years ago, the traditional kedgeree recipe was brought to the United Kingdom by returning British Colonists who popularised it in Victorian times as a ‘posh’ breakfast dish. These days, kedgeree can be enjoyed at any time of the day and I find it a real winner for a tasty and quick midweek supper or alternatively, for a quick yet filling weekend brunch.

Time Saving Tips

The conventional recipe involves a lots of steps and having to juggle multiple cooking pans so I’ve created a much simplified version that results in less washing up, and significantly less time to cook!

One of the main time-saving steps in this 15 minute kedgeree recipe is the use of parboiled microwave rice in a pouch and I think this is a marvellous invention. Nobody hands out culinary prizes for standing over a pan of boiling rice for 20 minutes (that can sometimes end up sloppy and overcooked anyway). Microwave rice pouches are now widely available in supermarkets, keep well in the store cupboard and give you perfectly cooked rice in 2 minutes or less. What’s not to like?

Another time saving step with this super quick kedgeree recipe is the cooking of the fish and the eggs. Most recipes advocate poaching the fish in milk then boiling the eggs separately. I view this as a waste of time and a waste of milk. When it comes to kedgeree, I don’t think milk poached fish tastes much better than water poached (especially after you’ve infused the fish with all those delicious spices), and I hate washing up, so in this recipe, the eggs and fish are cooked in the same pan, for the same amount of time. Simple!

Bring out the flavour with spices

One final word on the spices; many kedgeree recipes use ground coriander with the curry powder. For this 15 minute kedgeree, I favour garam masala combined with curry powder instead as I’ve found that this combination brings a richer, more interesting flavour. The turmeric is obligatory to turn the rice a gorgeous golden colour.

Other kedgeree recipes seem to scrimp on the spices but I like them to be heard so I’m a bit more generous. Especially with the turmeric as it’s such a lovely colour (and really good for you too!) Of course if spices aren’t so much your thing you can feel free to add a little less and the resulting dish will still be delicious.

15 minute kedgeree – step by step

STEP BY STEP

Now lets take a look at the step by step instructions in making this super quick kedgeree, along with handy photos to guide you at each step;

1) To get started, grab 2 large eggs and 2x skinless smoked haddock fillets (approx 200-250g / 7-9 oz) and put them together in a medium sized saucepan. Cover them with boiling water and turn the heat up to medium/high. Simmer the eggs and fish together for 10 minutes. Note that the fish may take less time – 6-8 minutes – if you’re using especially thin fillets. So keep an eye on it and be prepared to remove the haddock sooner from the pan if it looks flaky and cooked before 10 minutes is up.

2) Whilst the fish and eggs cook together, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium/high heat in large frying pan or wok. I prefer to use a wok for this as tends to cook things quicker and more evenly than in a normal pan. Grab one medium sized red onion and finely chop this. Now add it to the wok/ frying pan and cook it for about 3 minutes until softening, stirring it regularly.

3) Next it’s time to spice things up! To the onion pan, add 1 teaspoon of mild curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon garam masala and 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric. Cook everything for a further approx 3 minutes, stirring frequently until the onion is fully soft and coated in all those lovely, aromatic spices.

4) Whilst the onion and the spices are happily frying away, grab one 250g (8-9 oz) pack of microwave basmati rice and cook it according to pack instructions in the microwave (typically takes 90-120 seconds). Note that you can can add the rice pre-cooked to the onion pan instead without first cooking it in the microwave if you’d prefer, but I find this takes a bit longer. So microwaving it is preferred, to keep everything as quick as possible!

5) Add the contents of this cooked rice pouch to the onion and spice pan. Squeeze in the juice from half a lemon and give it all a quick stir to combine everything nicely.

6) By now, the fish should be ready. Remove it from the water pan with a slotted spoon and transfer it directly into the onion and spice pan. Give it a quick stir to break the fish up into large chunks and get it fully coated in the spices. Remove the eggs from the pan also, if you haven’t already (remember, these take about 10 minutes to hard boil) and plunge them into cold water briefly to cool them enough to make them ok to handle.

7) Divide the cooked rice mixture evenly between two serving plates.

8) Peel the cooked eggs and chop each one into quarters. Place 4 quarters on top of each of the plates. I like to arrange them in a circular pattern (see finished photos) as this looks really nice, but you can pop them on top of the rice in any way you’d like to.

9) Dollop 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt on each plate, in the very centre of each one. You can use a little more or less of the yoghurt according to personal taste. (I often just pop the yoghurt on the table and allow people to serve themselves, which usually goes down well.)

10) Finally, grab yourself a small bunch of flat leaf parsley for garnish. This needs to be roughly chopped – you can put it on a chopping board and use a knife for this if you want, but I find the least faffy and quickest thing to do is grab a pair of clean scissors and chop it directly above each serving plate, allowing the parsley to cascade down and settle nicely on top of the yoghurt.

11) That’s it! You’re done. Now grab a fork and DIG IN!