Kedgeree

This was our first Kedgeree.

I don't remember what we were talking about (probably about food/dinner) when J brought up the word - Kedgeree. After some quick research, I learned that it is British curried rice with smoked haddock, traditionally served as breakfast, popular in the Victorian period, and a classic example of Anglo-Indian cuisine. It sounded very interesting. Also, it was a dish served for the "upstairs" in Downton Abbey that we enjoyed watching. Moreover, we are fans of Sherlock Holmes; Mrs Hudson could made the dish in the late-19 century. Definitely it would be fun to make our Kedgeree. I adapted the recipe of Kedgeree from the guardian's "How to cook perfect..."series and made some changes based on other recipes. Smoked haddock was a key ingredient. We ran to our local Giant and Whole Foods. No luck. We assumed that most likely Wegmans wouldn't have one (later we confirmed they didn't). Apparently smoked haddock is not a common food in the US, at least around this area. After all J ordered some online. A couple of days later smoked haddock arrived from the state of Maine!

One pack of the smoked haddock (1 pound) contained three beautiful large fillets! After covering them with boiling water for 10 minutes, the skin was easily peeled off.

I used about 7 tablespoons of butter that was a little less than what the recipe called for. For spices, I used a teaspoon of homemade Garam Masala and a teaspoon of Penzeys' Maharajah style curry powder as I did when I made charred eggplant curry. For garnishes, I chose parsley that seemed more traditional than cilantro.

Hard-boiled eggs could not be skipped! Beer in a chilled glass for J. Note: he wasn't drinking in the morning; we made kedgeree for lunch.

The result was wonderful. Kedgeree was just like a kind of stir-fried rice, very easy to make. Smoked haddock tasted great - clean, meaty, moist, lovely smoked. I didn't add any salt during cooking. Light saltness from the fish was just enough for the dish. Curry flavor wasn't overpowered. The entire dish was very light but satisfying. I reckon that Kedgeree can be a delightful breakfast.