kedgeree

American  

[kej-uh-ree] / ˈkɛdʒ əˌri /

noun

1. East Indian Cooking. a cooked dish consisting of rice, lentils, and spices.

2. a cooked dish of rice, fish, hard-boiled eggs, butter, cream, and seasonings.

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kedgeree British  

/ ˌkɛdʒəˈriː /

noun

1. a lightly curried dish consisting of rice, cooked flaked fish, and hard-boiled eggs

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Etymology

Origin of kedgeree

First recorded in 1655–65, kedgeree is from the Hindi word khicṛī, khicaṛī

Explanation

Kedgeree is a traditional British dish whose roots go back to colonial India. Mainly served at breakfast, kedgeree is made from rice, eggs, smoked fish, and curry powder. Kedgeree evolved from a well-known Indian dish called kitchari or khichdi, a mixture of rice and lentils flavored with toasted spices. During colonial rule the British adapted kitchari using some of their own familiar ingredients, including smoked fish, eggs, and cream. A 1790 cook book included a recipe for kedgeree, the first known printed reference to the dish.

Example Sentences

Mark Bittman, first published in the New York Times in 10 March 1999 The anytime breakfast: Kedgeree An Anglo-Indian breakfast dish, supposedly eaten early to prevent the fish going off in the hot Indian climate.

From The Guardian • Sep. 18, 2015

There is a fish pie of successive layers of rice, eggs, and fish, which is one of the native dishes and is much like Kedgeree.

From The Gourmet's Guide to Europe by Newnham-Davis, Lieut.-Col. (Nathaniel)

To a stranger coming, as I did, from Java, Singapore, and Penang, nothing can have a more dreary and desolate appearance than the land about and below Kedgeree.

From Trade and Travel in the Far East or Recollections of twenty-one years passed in Java, Singapore, Australia and China. by Davidson, G. F.

On the 4th of February, 1836, anchor was cast at Kedgeree, nearly a hundred miles below Calcutta.

From Daughters of the Cross: or Woman's Mission by Eddy, Daniel C.

That night, when through the mooring-chains The wide-eyed corpse rolled free, To blunder down by Garden Reach And rot at Kedgeree, The tale the Hughli told the shoal The lean shoal told to me.

From Departmental Ditties and Barrack Room Ballads by Kipling, Rudyard