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Kedgeree or Kidgeree, an Indian Breakfast Dish

A dish of boiled rice mixed with fish, butter, cayenne, salt, and beaten eggs, served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Rice and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 28% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,350 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓

Kedgeree or Kidgeree, an Indian Breakfast Dish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rice

  1. Boil four ounces of rice until tender and dry as for curry.

Make the kedgeree

  1. When the rice is cooled, put it into a saucepan with nearly an equal quantity of cold fish, skin and bone removed, divided into very small flakes or scallops.

  2. Cut up an ounce or two of fresh butter and add it, with a full seasoning of cayenne, and as much salt as may be required.

  3. Stir the kedgeree constantly over a clear fire until it is very hot.

  4. Then mingle quickly with it two slightly beaten eggs.

  5. Do not let it boil after these are stirred in; serve the dish when they are just set.

Serve

  1. A Mauritian chatney may be sent to table with it.

  2. The butter may be omitted, and its place supplied by an additional egg or more.

  3. Cold turbot, brill, salmon, soles, John Dory, and shrimps may all be served in this form.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

290Calories
11 gProtein
6 gFat
47 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Acton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Rice + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,350 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice
Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the seasoning and butter as it heats.
Eggs
Set when stirred into the hot mixture, binding it into a soft, creamy texture.
Fish (in the method)
Provides the main flavour and flaky texture of the dish.
Butter (in the method)
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and giving a smooth mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Do not let it boil after the eggs are stirred in. Egg proteins set as they heat, so boiling after adding the eggs can make them curdle and turn grainy. Serve once they are just set.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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