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Kedgeree

Kedgeree: rijsttafel for the new world order.
difficulty:
yield:

4 main dish portions

time:

About 90 minutes total

The cooking of the rice for this dish does not have to be timed with the rest of the kedgeree preparation. In fact, you may make the rice well in advance and add it to heat through at the end.

introduction

Hey, we know there isn’t a line of people in America waiting to eat kedgeree. But this is such a magnanimous dish, you can’t help but adore it. Kedgeree can jump in for any meal and absorb any number of interesting flavoring options. It fills the belly on a primal level, but soars with nuanced spice notes. Basic kedgeree is simple: rice, fish, and eggs. Its cultural and ingredient addenda tend to follow the particular cook’s view of its origin: add curry, and it’s Indian cuisine; smoke the fish finnan haddie–style, throw in some celery, and it’s a Scottish dish. Our very good friend, Dawn Yanagihara, developed this recipe for us with a generous world view, and the dish is inspired. Dawn’s homemade curry powder alone trends the whole affair upward. (To read more about our kedgree backstory, click here.)

We adore the cultural ambiguity and charm of kedgeree, just as we crave the attendant focus on rice texture that can make or break the dish. Long-grain rice cooked with a grain-for-grain finish is kedgeree’s unwavering constant, and kedgeree cooks strive for fluffy, assertively firm, individual rice grain finish, as they search for an à la minute balance in the textures against something short of dryness. This is kedgeree’s challenge: to honor the rice and balance the arsenal of brightly flavored accompanying ingredients without overwhelming it. With our Charleston Gold rice, even post spicing and embellishment, its perfumed presence still breezes through.

equipment mise en place

For this recipe, you will need a chef’s knife; a small, heavy-bottomed skillet; a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder; a small bowl; a paring knife; a rasp-style grater; a small saucepan; a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet; a wooden spoon; and a warmed serving bowl or platter.

  • for the curry powder:

    • 1
      tablespoon coriander seeds
    • teaspoons fenugreek seeds
    • 1
      teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
    • 1
      teaspoon black peppercorns
    • ¾
      teaspoon cumin seeds
    • ¼
      teaspoon anise seeds
    • 2
      whole cloves
    • 2
      green cardamom pods
    • 1
      Turkish bay leaf
    • 2
      teaspoons ground turmeric
    • ¼
      teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • for the kedgeree:

    • 2
      medium zucchini (12 to 14 ounces total weight)
    • 4
      medium garlic cloves, peeled
    • 1
      small piece (about ¾ inch) fresh ginger
    • ½
      cup spring or filtered water
    • Big pinch of saffron threads
    • 1
      tablespoon olive oil
    • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • 1
      ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
    • 2
      jalapeño chiles (1 ounce each), seeded and diced fine (about ¼ cup)
    • 1
      small to medium onion, diced fine
    • 4
      teaspoons curry powder
    • 1
    • 8
      ounces smoked trout, skin removed and fish flaked into small pieces
    • 1
      tablespoon juice from 1 large, juicy lemon
    • ½
      cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
    • 2 or 3
      hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered or diced
    • 1
      recipe Mango Chutney
  1.  

    Make the curry powder: Combine the coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, anise seeds, and cloves in a small heavy-bottomed skillet. Set the cardamom pods on a cutting board and gently crush them with the flat of a chef’s knife. Pull apart the papery husks and add the seeds to the skillet; discard the husks. Toast the spices over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until they are sweetly fragrant and just beginning to take on a toasty aroma, 6 to 8 minutes—or less, if your skillet is thin; don’t push the spices too far or you’ll wind up with bitter notes. Pour the spices onto a plate and allow them to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

  2.  

    Transfer the toasted and cooled spices to a clean coffee or spice grinder. Crumble in the bay leaf and grind the spices until finely pulverized, shaking the grinder to keep the mixture moving inside. Transfer the ground spices to a small bowl and stir in the turmeric and cayenne. You’ll have about 3½ tablespoons curry powder—more than you’ll need for the kedgeree. (Store the remainder in an airtight container or glass jar for a month or so.)

  3.  

    Make the kedgeree: Trim the tops and bottoms off the zucchini and cut each one in half crosswise. Stand a piece on a cut end and, working from top to bottom, use a paring knife to cut the flesh away from the seedy core, rotating the zucchini a quarter turn after each cut. When all the flesh has been cut away, you should be left with a long, roughly ½-inch square of spongy core to toss out. Cut each plank of flesh into ¼-inch slices. Repeat with the remaining zucchini.

  4.  

    Using a rasp-style grater, grate the garlic cloves down to their woody bases and transfer to a small bowl. Peel the ginger and grate enough on the grater to yield 1 teaspoon. Add the ginger to the garlic. Bring the water to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add the saffron, turn off the heat, and set the pan aside.

  5.  

    Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over high heat until it begins to release wisps of smoke. Add the zucchini, distribute the pieces in a single layer, and sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring only 2 or 3 times, until the zucchini is lightly browned and slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Transfer the zucchini to a plate and set it aside.

  6.  

    Let the skillet cool for a couple minutes, then set it over medium-low heat and drop in the butter. Add the jalapeños, onion, and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (don’t let the vegetables brown), 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic-ginger mixture and the curry powder and cook, stirring frequently and mashing the mixture with a wooden spoon until it is richly fragrant and the garlic is no longer raw, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice, saffron water, and scant ½ teaspoon salt and fold the mixture until the rice is tinted yellow. When it is, add the zucchini and smoked trout, increase the heat to medium-high and stir constantly until the mixture is heated through, about 2 minutes. Fold in the lemon juice. 

  7.  

    Transfer the kedgeree to a warmed serving bowl or platter. Scatter the cilantro over the top and serve with the eggs and chutney on the side. You can also garnish with fried onions as we did in the photo.