Kedgeree!

Sunday morning of this past weekend, Fi & her mom treated me to one of my favorite breakfast dishes, a British Indian delight called Kedgeree.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with this goodness, the Oxford English Dictionary (what, what!) defines kedgeree as "An Indian dish of rice boiled with split pulse, onions, eggs, butter, and condiments; also, in European cookery, a dish made of cold fish, boiled rice, eggs, and condiments, served hot."  It's sort of like a breakfast jambalaya with smoked haddock & boiled eggs as the proteins.  The word 'kedgeree' originated in India, deriving from the Hindi khichrī, itself the offspring of Sanskrit k'rsara, which means ‘dish of rice and sesamum’.

At first glance, it may seem like a strange thing to substitute for bacon & eggs, something out of far left field, but the British have a lengthy colonial history with South Asia (they established their first permanent outpost in Bengal in 1612).  In that part of the world, rice wouldn't be uncommon on the breakfast table, & a dish putting to good use the leftover fish from the night before would be a triumph of thrift for the household. 

Britain's long-standing relationship with India impacted culture in a number of areas outside the culinary too.  One of my favorites is in language.  Take, for example, the term 'Blighty', an appellation used by the English to refer to, well, England.  It's Army Slang in origin, arising from the Hindi Bilayati (Wilayati), meaning 'foreign'.  19th century British soldiers serving in India borrowed this local word referring to their homeland, & upon their return to England, 'Blighty' came along in tow. 

When I first heard 'Blighty', I knew nothing of its origins & naively suspected it had something to do with blight, as in some sort of plant disease, like potato blight.  It seemed reasonable enough that the English would adopt a disparaging term of endearment for their homeland, esp considering how much they complain about it (ahem, the weather).  Embarrassing, I know.  I still have much to learn.