thai kedgeree

despite not celebrating christmas i still make the effort to watch all the pre-christmas cookery programmes, with their varying levels of interesting and original ideas for holiday cooking.

the jamie oliver series this year was a bit traditional and sentimental for my tastes but one dish caught my eye – his rescue me kedgeree. it appealed because it was laced with fresh coriander – the stems cooked with the onions at the start of the dish and the leaves added at the end.

i’ve never made kedgeree and i think that still holds true given the very bastardised approach i took to jamie’s recipe. i used brown basmati rice, red thai curry paste instead of madras paste, lime instead of lemon and skipped the boiled eggs which traditional kedgereee demands.

the resulting dish was light but packed with fresh flavours and hints of chilli and lime. perfect if you fancy giving your taste buds something to make them sparkle.

thai kedgeree (serves 4)

200g brown basmati rice

1 fresh bay leaf

c300g undyed smoked haddock fillets

olive oil

a knob of butter

1 onion, finely chopped

a small bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped

1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

1 heaped teaspoon red thai curry paste

1 lime

cook the rice in a large pan of boiling water, taking care not to overcook it.

meanwhile, bring a second pan of water to the boil, add the haddock and bay leaf and poach the fish for c4 minutes until it is just cooked and flakes easily. remove the fish from the water and when it is cool flake the fish into bitesize pieces, discarding any skin and bones.

meanwhile, heat the olive oil and butter and cook the onion over a gentle heat until it begins to soften. add the chopped coriander stems, chilli and curry paste then leave them to cook slowly, so the onions become soft and sweet.

when the rice is ready, drain it and add to the pan of onions. mix gently then add the flaked haddock, coriander leaves and lime juice. serve garnished with lime quarters and coriander leaves.