Black Kedgeree

A nutty spin on standard Kedgeree. A few familiar ingredients, and a few new ones as well.

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups of Black RIce

3-4 Lime Leaves

1 Bay Leaf

3-4 Curry Leaves

1 1/2 Tsp Turmeric

1/2 Tsp White Pepper

1 Thumb Crushed Ginger

3 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

1 Onion, finely sliced,

1 Sweet Red Pepper, minced

2 Fresh Green Chillies

Pinch of Saffron (6-7 threads)

Small bunch of Coriander, stalks minced

Flat leaf parsley

2 Lemons

6 Quail Eggs

Hot Smoked Salmon (or other fish)

Dill, optional

Salt/Pepper/Olive oil/Butter

Method

Using your preferred method, precook the black rice until tender. It will stay quite nutty/al dente, so don't overdo it!

Set it aside to cool. In a large pot, add a knob of butter on a medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, onion and red pepper, and cook until translucent, stirring regularly. Once translucent, add the minced coriander stalks, lime leaves, bay leaf, curry leaves, turmeric, saffron and white pepper. Stir regularly until fragrant. Take one of the chillies, and mince. Include seeds if you want a good hit of heat. Add to the pot as well.

It should be nice and fragrant by this point. Add the rice, and stir the mixture in well. Add the juice of half a lemon. At this point you can start to adjust the flavour to your liking. It should next a decent amount of salt, and a touch of pepper.

At this point, you have the option of getting a small frying pan, with some olive oil on a medium-high heat, and fry a few parsley leaves, about 20-30 seconds. Dry on a paper towel.

In a blender, add a handful of coriander, a handful of parsley leaves, a 1/4 cup of olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, and half the second chilli. Blend until smooth, then salt to taste. This is a dressing.

In a smaller pot, bring water to a boil. Boil quail eggs for about 2 mins, rinse in cold water then peel. Cut in half.

Plating method is optional, but standard is a bed of the rice mixture, dressing scattered across, then decorated with flakes of salmon, egg halves, and more fresh chilli, optional fried parsley. But get creative. Serve with a wedge of lemon to serve.