Quinoa inspired Kedgeree

If someone had told me a year ago I'd be using the words 'kedgeree', 'inspired' and 'quinoa' in the same sentence, I would have told that hipster to do one. But here we are. And this is a really tasty, hearty recipe that is great either hot or cold so ideal for lunch or tea.

I always thought kedgeree (flaked fish, rice, boiled eggs and curry powder) had its roots firmly grounded in Scotland but after googling various recipes I found out it actually purports an Indian heritage, and my spin on this dish is definitely Asian inspired, with cumin and turmeric powering the flavours.

I've replaced the rice with quinoa as it's a complete protein with all nine amino acids.

This recipe makes around 2 - 4 servings, depending on how hungry you are and what you're having it with.

I used:

3 x smoked mackerel fillets
250g quinoa
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon cumin
1 red onion 
2 garlic gloves 
1 lemon 
3 large eggs 

I have a love / hate relationship with mackerel. I go through phases of craving it, then having too much of it and not touching the stuff for six months. We're going through a good patch at the moment, I've eaten it twice in the past two days... If you don't like mackerel, haddock is widely used in kedgeree dishes.

Fry the onion and garlic in a pan for a few minutes until soft and brown, and then add in your quinoa and water (I used enough to cover the quinoa, probably about 750ml but did top up the pan throughout cooking to keep it moist and to stop it burning). Throw in your spices and allow everything to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed.

After ten minutes, boil your eggs in a saucepan and chop your mackerel. Once the eggs are done (I like mine a little bit runny inside still), peel off the shell and chop into quarters. Chop the mackerel too, getting rid of any bones if needed.

Toss the mackerel in the cooked quinoa and place the eggs on top, squeezing the juice of one lemon over the pan before serving.

Disclaimer: I don't know how you make eggs and fish and quinoa in this arrangement look pretty... don't judge this one on appearances.