A twist on traditional kedgeree, our version is made with quail’s eggs and has a delicious Indian influence, with the use of cardamom. A perfect brunch for the weekend!
Serves 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Wheat Free
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon groundnut oil
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- pinch of ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 200g brown rice
- 600ml vegetable stock, hot
- 50g smoked mackerel, skinned and flaked
- 1 handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 12 to 16 fresh quail’s eggs
- 100g watercress, washed and thick stalks removed
To Serve:
- 4 dessertspoons (40ml) crème fraiche
- 1 lemon, cut into quarters
Preparation:
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes until soft. Add the cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon stick and bay leaf and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil and spices. Pour in the hot stock and bring to the boil. Stir once and boil for 5 minutes, then cover the pan and continue cooking the rice on the lowest possible heat for 10 minutes. Add the mackerel and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Keep warm.
- Just after you have added the mackerel to the kedgeree pan, bring a small pan of water to simmering point. Crack the quail’s eggs and lower them gently into the water. Cook for 2 minutes until softly poached. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- While the eggs are poaching, arrange the watercress around the edge of a large serving platter.
- Place the mackerel kedgeree in the middle of the serving platter and top with the poached quails eggs. Put the crème fraiche in a small bowl and place the lemon wedges around the edge of the platter.
Chefs tip
If you can’t get hold of quail’s eggs, poach 4 free range hens eggs instead.
This recipe is from Jennifer’s book, The Diet for Food Lovers available on Amazon (The Orion Publishing Group)
Jean Cazals Photography