Hot smoked salmon kedgeree

SERVES 6

½ teaspoon fennel seeds

1½ teaspoons cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ground turmeric ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder 350g basmati rice

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

50g butter

350g hot smoked salmon, skinned and roughly flaked large handful parsley, chopped 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 Place half the fennel seeds and half the cumin seeds into a dry frying pan over a medium heat and fry for about 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in the turmeric and Kashmiri chilli, then tip everything into a spice grinder and reduce to a powder.

2 Put the rice into a saucepan with 600ml of water and the salt and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 8–10 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is just tender. After 8 minutes, check it by squeezing a grain between your fingers. You want rice that is soft on the outside, but still firm within. When done, stir gently with a fork to separate the grains.

3 Put the eggs in a small pan of simmering water and simmer for 8 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water until cool enough to handle. Peel the eggs and cut them into quarters.

4 Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, add the remaining fennel and cumin seeds and fry for 30 seconds. Add the ground spices and hot rice and fry for 5 minutes until steaming hot. Gently fold in the salmon, parsley, lemon juice and eggs, then serve at once

You can now buy undyed smoked haddock with quite a heavy smoke which also works really well with the spice in this recipe. You’ll need to poach it first, though.