(Serves 6)

Kedgeree started life in India as a dish of rice and lentils under the name of kitchri. During the time of the Raj, the Victorians took a fancy to it and dressed it up for their breakfast table, adding fish and eggs. It is as good for supper or lunch as it is for brunch. Sometimes I use salmon, fresh, cold-smoked or hot-smoked, sometimes undyed smoked haddock, but you can also add scallops, prawns, fresh or smoked lampuki...

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon each crushed cardamom, cloves, coriander, peppercorns, cumin and a splinter of cinnamon
400 to 500 g Basmati rice
800 ml to 1 litre water or fish stock
750 g prepared, uncooked fish – as above
6 eggs

Fry the onion and spices in the oil until the onion is wilted and golden, stir in the rice then add just under twice its volume of water. Bring to the boil, stir, cover, lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Place the fish on top of the rice, cover again and cook for a further five to eight minutes. Meanwhile, boil the eggs for five minutes, and shell when cool enough to handle. Cut up the fish and eggs into the rice and serve.

I like to serve a lightly curried sauce with this which I make by cooking two tablespoons medium curry paste in a non-stick pan, and then adding 100ml water, 100ml coconut cream and one tablespoon chopped mango chutney.

Bring the mixture to the boil, and simmer for five minutes then add half a fresh mango, diced, and some chopped fresh coriander leaves. If you prefer, serve a creamy lemon and dill sauce rather than a curry sauce. Wild rice or red rice can be added to the basmati rice if you like.

While this is the perfect brunch dish, kedgeree is also very good for lunch or supper; it works well on a buffet, and can also be adapted to cocktail parties when I recommend serving it in Chinese soup spoons.