Recipe: When Oats Won’t Cut It, Make Kedgeree Fried Rice for Breakfast

History has shown that there’s nothing rice can’t do, but it’s good to have a timely reminder now and again. Enter Rice by Masterchef UK winner Ping Coombes, who celebrates the grain in more than 100 international ways in her second cookbook. 

One of them is kedgeree, which evolved from the Indian staple khichdi, a mixture of spiced rice and lentils used as comfort food for centuries. The dish was heavily adapted by British colonists during the Victorian era, who replaced lentils with flaked smoked fish (usually haddock) and added hard-boiled eggs and butter. The recipe eventually made its way to the UK, where it’s been a protein-packed breakfast staple ever since. (It’s great for lunch and dinner, too.) 

“I love to serve this with a poached egg on top. You can also serve it with fried or boiled eggs,” writes Coombes. “I recommend keeping the yolks runny, as they will envelop the rice and make it velvety.”

Want more free recipes? Sign up to our Cooking newsletter for weekly dishes from top Aussie and international chefs – from quick dinners to weekend projects.

Kedgeree fried rice

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 skinless smoked cod or haddock fillets
125g canned mackerel fillets in oil
3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks of fresh curry leaves
2 tbsp Madras curry powder
½ tsp ground turmeric
400g cooked basmati rice
1 tsp chicken stock powder
¾ tsp salt
150g frozen peas
4 poached eggs, to serve (optional)

Method

Place the fish fillets in a saucepan and cover with enough cold water to submerge them. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat and poach the fish for 6 minutes. The flesh should flake away when you lift it up gently. Flake it into large chunks and set aside. Discard the water.

Remove the mackerel from the can and roughly break it up so you still have big chunks of fish. Reserve the oil from the can.

In a wok or large frying pan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then add the reserved oil from the mackerel can. Increase the heat, add the onion and fry until translucent.

Add the curry leaves, curry powder and turmeric. Mix well.

Add the cooked rice and mix well to coat in the spice mix, then add the chicken stock powder and salt. Mix well.

Add the flaked fish and peas, folding them through the rice gently, as you don’t want to break up the fish too much. As soon as the peas are cooked through, turn off the heat. Serve and top with poached eggs, if using.

This is an edited extract from Rice by Ping Coombes, with photography by Sam Folan. Published by Murdoch Books (RRP $49.99).