Kidgeree for lunch

After reading the blogs this morning, I just could not being myself to write about politics. The anti-PMS (anti-Palin Manic Screeching) by the left just made me feel disgusted. So I took a break from blogging about politics this morning.

And now for a completely different subject.

Kidgeree is a spicy Hindu vegetarian dish of rice and lentils. It's a very popular dish especially among the poor. There is a similar dish made in the southern Indian state of Kerala but, as the Keralan Hindus are "fishatarians," it is made of fish and rice. The British in India preferred the fish version but still called it kidgeree incorrectly. They brought the idea back to Britain with them and it became a breakfast staple among the middle class. They also brought it to South Africa and we used to have it for dinner at least once a week.

We had some fried halibut fillets left over from dinner last night and some left over Chinese-style stir-fried mixed vegetables and cooked basmati rice. So I put a splash of olive oil in a big skillet, added a teaspoonful of my home-made garam masala (which is a mixture of ten spices) and heated it. (Heating the spices is called vargha in Hindi - which means refresh.) Then I tossed in the leftover veggies and rice, flaked the halibut and added that. (Vegetables are not usually added to kidgeree but just rice and fish can be a bit boring so I usually add at least some diced bell peppers and peas.)