One Pan Salmon Kedgeree

Kedgeree can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or for an easy dinner. Because it can be eaten cold, it's also perfect for on-the-go lunches. Most of the ingredients in this recipe are staple items in every pantry. If you have a can of fish or some poached salmon, an onion, curry powder, cooked rice, and eggs, a simple version of this recipe can be made.  Or replace fish with roasted pumpkin, a vegetarian option. 

This dish works best if the rice is cooked the day before and left to chill in the refrigerator, the same principle as cooking fried rice with pre-chilled rice. It is also a great way to use up leftover rice, I always seem to have some. There's a theory that this dish originated in India from using up the leftover rice from a meal the night before, which had been chilled overnight. You will be surprised just how quick it is to make, and yet so full of flavour.

The Backstory:

According to "Larousse Gastronomique" what we now called kedgeree, originated from a traditional concoction of spiced lentils or dal, rice, fried onion, and classic Indian herbs and spices such as coriander, cardamon, cloves, ginger and chilli. It was known as "khichiri" or "Khichri", a name derived from the Sanskrit k'ysara. It has been eaten across India since the 14th century so is quite ancient. The eggs were believed to be added to the Indian kitchen cooking repertoire centuries later by conquering Mughals and were favoured as a garnish for this dish. It is a dish that has evolved over the centuries, with the British in the colonies favouring the addition of smoky salty fish such as haddock, and as has often been the case, the British have changed the dish to suit their tastes and now it is a favourite for breakfast.

I don't think I could possibly say how often I've made this dish over the years, and now it's still one of the meals on rotation at home. I find it quite comforting to be repetitive with favourite meals. It's also one of those meals that is simple to prepare and eat in Summer or Winter.

I'm a great believer that when children are to be fed, hidden vegetables are the key to healthy children. Cooked peas, finely chopped cooked carrot, and finely chopped tomatoes will make this dish more visually appealing, tasty and nutritious. The fish dish also heats up beautifully as leftovers and even improves in flavour, tastes great cold, freezes well, and stretches the budget. That is a lot of bonus points.

Kedgeree recipe:

Ingredients:

Serves 6

• 2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
• 2 x 410 g cans salmon in spring water, or oil if that's all you have, well drained
• 1 large finely chopped onion
• 2 heaped tablespoons curry powder
• small piece fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric 
• 2 finely chopped tomatoes (the seeds should be removed before chopping but I don't always do this)
• 1 fresh red chilli finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tablespoon mango chutney (optional)
• 3-4 cups cold cooked brown or white long grain rice (1 cup of raw white rice, or 195 g. will cook to make up to 3 cups)
• 1 cup thawed frozen peas (optional)
• A handful of fresh curry leaves (optional)
• 4-6 hard boiled eggs
• 2 handfuls fresh coriander or parsley leaves
• juice of 2 lemons

Method:

1. Sauté the onion and fresh curry leaves (if using) in butter until starting to soften but not brown and add the curry powder, turmeric and ginger. Sauté for a few minutes until the curry and spices are cooking well with the onion and are becoming aromatic.
2. Add the chopped tomato.
3. Drain salmon, chop into chunks, and add to mixture in pan. 
4. Add the juice of 1 lemon to the fish mixture.
5. Add the rice, cup by cup and stir through the mixture, coating with the spices.
6. Add the chutney and mix through. 
7. Add the peas and half the fresh chopped coriander and stir through.
8. Cook the whole mixture for a few minutes until all the ingredients are mixed together.
9. Add the juice of the 2nd lemon, give it a stir and it's almost ready to serve.
10. Season to taste.

Almost ready to serve.

To serve:

This dish can be served in your stove top frying pan or add to your serving dish and decorate with quartered or halved hard boiled eggs, finely chopped coriander or parsley and a few decorative salad leaves. Serve with the yoghurt as well if you wish.

Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Cooking notes:

• The spicy heat of this dish can be dialled up or down depending on who you are serving it to and your personal taste. If you have a low tolerance to chilli or if children will be eating this, then omit the chopped chilli and you can even reduce the amount of curry powder. Our original family recipe, "Friday Night Special" (recipe below) which I cooked when our children were still living at home, only used 2 teaspoons of curry powder and was still delicious. They both have fond memories of this dish.
• Canned salmon can be replaced with tuna, which is a cheaper option. My Friday Night Special was generally made with canned tuna, however now I prefer canned salmon.
• A squirt of Passata, tomato sauce or catchup can replace the fresh tomato for a more homely meal.
• We have a lovely curry tree growing in our garden, so I throw in curry leaves whenever I can, but they are optional in this dish.
• I like to serve a small bowl of Mango of fruit chutney on the side.
•  Roasted pumpkin can replace the fish for vegetarians.

This an original recipe by Pauline McNee at Happy Retirees  Kitchen.

Other similar HRK fish recipes you might enjoy:

Easy Tuna Kedgeree or Friday Night Special This is a very easy Friday night family dish and is great comfort food at the end of a long, hard week.

Friday Night Special, a family night

Hot Smoked Salmon Kedgeree

My Malaysian Fish Dish Recipe This was always a favourite dish when I lived at home. 

This has been a bit of a fishy post; however, it demonstrates how useful it can be to keep a can of tinned fish and some curry powder in the pantry to create a quick and tasty meal.

Once again, we are waiting with trepidation this week to discover how the latest tropical storm will develop once it turns into a tropical cyclone off the North Queensland coast, possibly tonight. At the very least, we are expected to receive lots of heavy rain by the end of the week. However, these storms are very unpredictable, and the meteorologists still can't determine where it will cross the coast. Fingers crossed.

 Hope your week goes well, my friends.

Warm wishes,

Pauline