This is one of my all-time favourite dishes to have for breakfast. It was created whilst camping in the glorious Vale of the White Horse a couple of years ago when my good friend Rich and I were musing on how we could posh-up our morning meal – we came up this and it is an absolute corker. In our humble opinion anyway.

There are lots of recipes for kedgeree and I’m sure several are similar to ours – afterall, how many different ways can you make curried rice and smoked fish? We use hot smoked mackerel instead of the traditional haddock so we don’t have to worry about poaching the fish – likewise, packets of pre-cooked rice save time and washing up. This is a one-pot version (we only have a single gas stove when ‘under canvas’) but you can add as many processes and pans as you feel necessary – we sometimes get organised and hard-boil the eggs the previous evening but most of the time we do it this way. Whichever you fancy.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

1x250g pack of pre-cooked rice (pilau or similar)

2-3 fillets smoked mackerel, skin removed, flaked

1 small onion, finely sliced

1 clove garlic – chopped

2 eggs

2-3 tsp curry powder

150g pot plain natural yoghurt

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped coriander (optional)

Method

Fill a saucepan with boiling water over a medium heat and pop in the eggs – cook for 6-10 mins depending on how runny you want the yolk to be. Remove the eggs and set aside to cool then empty the pan and return to the heat.

Put a good slug of oil into the pan and heat gently then add the sliced onion and garlic, frying until soft and translucent but not too coloured. Add 1tsp of the curry powder at this point and stir vigorously until the onion and garlic are completely coated – if the pan seems a bit dry at this point add a touch more oil to loosen.

Add the remaining curry powder to the pot of yoghurt, mix well, and set aside.

Once everything is nicely curried, reduce the heat slightly and add the packet of cooked rice and mix the whole lot thoroughly then add the flaked mackerel and stir well. Keep an eye on the rice – a bit stuck at the bottom is fine but it will easily form a big, burnt mass if you’re not careful!

By now your eggs should be cool enough to peel and chop – slice as fine or as chunky as you like and add them to the pan, stirring through to combine and then add the spicy yoghurt to the pan and combine the lot – seasoning to taste.

Serve immediately – scattering chopped coriander as a gesture towards presentation if you wish!