The Kedg

I lurve a good kedgeree, but unfortunately it is at its best when made with a little creme fraiche - even half fat creme fraiche is good. And if you use 4 medium hard-boiled eggs, and, say, 250g rice, you're looking at 18 and a half points before you've even started.

So here's my points-moderated kedgeree. Still lovely, and worth doing. As with other things I've done, this will serve two adults and two kids easily - though only one of my two kids is likely to even try it.

200g brown basmati rice
2 medium eggs
35g curry paste (mild, medium or hot, your choice - I think mild works best)
1 red onion
1 clove garlic
1 green pepper (optional)
1 large fillet of undyed smoked haddock (or dyed if you can't get it)*
300 ml skimmed milk
a handful of chopped fresh parsley (optional)

*Because this is the low fat version, I erred on the generous side with the haddock, and put in around 500g - or 4 points worth. Just point at the fillet you want on the fish counter and go with it.

Pre-cook 200g brown basmati rice. This takes around 25 minutes. When cooked, the rice can be rinsed in cold water and set aside. By the way, my foolproof rice-cooking method is to always use 3x the volume (in mm or fl oz) of water in proportion to the weight (in g or oz) of rice. So one, non-dieting person's portion would be, say, 3 oz rice, which requires 9 fl oz of water/stock to cook perfectly. So 200g rice needs 600 ml water/stock. I always cook rice in stock rather than salted water.

Also, pre-cook two (just two for the lo version) eggs till they are just hard boiled. Bosh them on the top and leave in cold water.

That done, finely chop a red onion, crush and chop a clove of garlic, and, optionally, chop a fresh pepper - green or red. Pre-heat your wok. I used a non-stick one, which means you can get away with a lot less oil than usual.

At this point, skin your fish if you need to, and stick it in a microwaveable dish with the milk. Smoked haddock is harder to skin than regular haddock, but it's still fairly easy to do when the fish is frozen. So, even if you buy it fresh, my tip is to freeze it anyway, then it's easier to work with. Cook in the microwave until just done. Do it for 2 minutes at a time and check.

Meanwhile, avail yourself of one generous spoonful of curry paste. I used one that only had 0.9 g saturated fat per 100g, it worked out at 2 points for 35g of the paste or something. It contains vegetable oil, so add to your hot wok, with a tiny amount of oil (e.g. groundnut). Mash it about a bit and add the onion and garlic, cooking till soft. Stir in the chopped pepper if using.

All of this takes much longer to describe, it seems, than it does to do. Kedgeree is one of the great "cooks in 10 mins" dishes (as long as your rice and eggs are pre-cooked).

Add the rice to the wok, and stir thoroughly so it gets coated in the curry paste and onion mixture, keep stir frying till the rice is heated through. While that's happening, take the shells off the eggs and slice them as you wish (I always quarter them, but any way you want to do it is fine).

When the rice is heated through, add the fish and the milk, and the eggs, to the wok, and stir it all through, till the fish is breaking up nicely. This is the stage you'd add 100g or so of creme fraiche, but for the lo-point version let's not. Stir in the chopped parsley, if using, and serve.

Depending on the amount of fish, this is again around 20 points for the complete meal, which means 7 points for a generous and satisfying adult portion.