18. Curried Kedgeree カレー味のケジャリー

Ingredients:

113g pearl barley

568g water

1 large onion, thinly slices

14g fat

4 level teaspoons curry powder

1 level Tablespoon flour

1 level teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 level teaspoons salt

225g cooked white fish

 

精白丸麦　113g

水　568g

大玉ねぎ　一個　薄切りにする

脂または油　14g

カレーパウダー　小さじ4 （すりきり）

小麦粉　大さじ1 （すりきり）

砂糖　小さじ1（すりきり）

お酢　小さじ2

塩　小さじ2 （すりきり）

火を通した白身の魚　225g

 

Instructions:

1.     Soak the barley in the water overnight.

2.     Fry the onion in the fat till golden brown.

3.     Stir in the curry powder, cook for 5 minutes and add the flour. Again cook for 5 minutes.

4.     Slowly add the liquid which has been strained off the barley, and bring to the boil.

5.     Stir in the sugar, vinegar, salt and barley.

6.     Boil gently until the  barley is tender – about 45 minutes.

7.     Add the fish and cook for a further 10 minutes.

8.     Serve piled on a hot dish.

 

1.     丸麦を一晩568gの水につける。

2.     玉ねぎを狐色になるまで炒める。

3.     カレーパウダーを入れて5分間炒める。小麦粉を加え、さらに5分間炒める。

4.     丸麦をつけた水を少しづつ加え、沸騰させる。

5.     砂糖、酢、塩、丸麦を加える。

6.     丸麦が柔らかくなるまで煮る（約45分）

7.     魚を加え、さらに10分間火を加える。

8.     温かい皿に盛る。

 

Background:

This is a recipe from Ministry of Food’s Fish booklet.

Kedgeree is an Anglo-Indian breakfast originated from khichiri/khichdi, a common Indian dish consisting of lentils and rice. The dish was introduced to the United Kingdom by returning colonists. The British replaced lentils with fish, and added hard-boiled eggs and occasionally cream.

This wartime version omits eggs, since they were hard to obtain during the WW2 as I explained in Father’s Fancy. 

Also, another major difference is the use of barley in place of rice. As I mentioned in Rice Pudding, rice was one of imported commodities that had to be rationed. Barley, on the other hand, are domestic crop which was more readily available.

There was hardly any information about spices in my go-to wartime manuscripts from the era. I have seen plenty of recipes using cinnamon, mace, ginger, mix spices and so on, but lack of documentation at least indicates that spices were not rationed.

Before or even between the wars, well-to-do families had a cook, so perhaps the intricate concoction of spices were left to the professionals, and working-class families could not afford those rather exotic ingredients. In fact, spices did not really enter British kitchens in the way they do now until the mid-20^th century.

Although, pre-mixed commercial curry powder has been available since late 18^th century in the UK. And during the wartime, there were two Indian-family businesses supplying curry powder to the UK market: PM Lalah & Sons and Vencatachellum. British families used them sparsely.

Presumably importation of spices dwindled during the wartime as other products due to the challenging shipping conditions, but because they were a minor part of the diet, I guess they quietly and gradually disappeared from the market.

Process:

Ingredients　材料

 

Fry the onion　玉ねぎを炒める

Add Curry powder, cook, then add flour and cook further　カレーパウダーを入れて炒め、小麦粉を加えてさらに炒める

Slowly add liquid, then sugar, vinegar, salt and barley and cook　つけ水を徐々に加え、砂糖、酢、塩、丸麦を加えて煮る

 

Add fish and cook　魚を加えてさらに火を通す

Verdict:

I halved the ingredients for two of us. I cooked the barley for 15 minutes instead of 45, and further 10 minutes after adding the fish. I think you need to see how your barley is cooking and adjust the cooking time accordingly.

This is one of more successful dish. It must have been a nice breath of fresh air to have spiced food after eating rather bland dishes. But because the ingredients were limited, a depth of flavour was lacking. Definitely a good basic recipe to play around with, though.

ケジャリーというのは、インドに起源をもつ料理で、19世紀に大英帝国下のインドに住んでいた英国人たちからイギリスに紹介され、朝食として食べられるようになりました。もともとはレンズ豆とお米の料理ですが、イギリス人により、レンズ豆は取り除かれ、白身魚や、ゆで卵、生クリームが加えられました。このレシピは戦時中のものなので、とてもベーシックなものです。

戦時中にスパイスがあったのかと驚きましたが、スパイス自体は植民地時代から輸入されています。ただし、戦前には中流以上の家庭では料理人を雇うことが多く、労働者階級ではそのようなエキゾチックな材料には手がでなかったでしょうから、市場にはあったとはいえ、現在程普及していたとはいえず、戦時中にはスパイスは配給の対象にさえならなかったようです。

二人分なので、材料は半分で作りました。丸麦が柔らかくなるまで45分煮ると書いてありますが、私の場合、15分ぐらいで十分でした。この辺りは様子をみながら調整する必要があります。魚を入れてからは更に10分火を入れました。

素朴な料理ですが、限られた材料での料理では味の幅にも限りがありますから、スパイスを使ったこの料理は新鮮だったに違いありません。

 

Bibliography:

Davidson, Alan, 2014, The Oxford Companion to Food (Oxford University Press)

Imperial War Museum, 2020, Rationing Recipes from the Second World War: Meat Curry, Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKcnS1D3WdE&t=2s

The Ministry of Food, 1948, Fish Cookery (His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London)