“When the cat’s away, the mice will play” so the saying goes.

Not me. “When the cat’s away, this mouse will eat kedgeree” - such is the level of my rock’n roll lifestyle.

Despite being Scottish and loving Indian food, Tom can’t stand the Scottish-Indian fusion dish that is kedgeree. But I love it. And as he’s away this week, I thought I’d indulge in a  big old plateful.

I’m quite pleased with this recipe. It’s so light and fragrant. Traditionally, kedgeree is made with curry powder, but I have some particularly lovely spices on the go at the moment, and was keen to use them instead. If you’d prefer to stick to curry powder, then substitute the teaspoons of turmeric, cumin and coriander for 1 heaped tablespoon of curry powder instead.

As I’m on my lonesome, the recipe below makes a delicious lunch or supper for one. If you live with people who are more open-minded towards the idea of kedgeree, then it’s easy to scale up.

Nb. To read a little about the very interesting history of kedgeree, then click HERE - excellent words (revolting photo!)

Kedgeree Recipe
Serves 1

50g basmati rice
1 smoked haddock fillet
1 egg (washed, as it’ll be cooked with the fish)
1 tbsp coconut oil (or, more traditionally, a hefty lump of butter)
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
80g (roughly two big chunks) of frozen spinach
juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Boil a kettle. Pour 1/4 of the water into one saucepan with the rice, and cook according to instructions. Pour the rest into another saucepan - add the egg and smoked haddock fillet, and boil for 7 minutes.

2. Put the frozen spinach in a mug, and defrost in the microwave. Usually I would squeeze out all the excess water, but keep it in this case.

3. Heat the oil in a pan. Cook the onion for 3 minutes, and then add the garlic and mustard seeds. After a couple of minutes, stir in the turmeric, cumin and coriander. Add the spinach and the spinach water, and remove from the heat.  

4. Break up the cooked-smoked haddock, and add to the pan. Add the cooked, strained rice, and stir so that it’s coated in the spiced onions.

5. Season with the lemon juice, and serve with the quartered hard boiled egg.