I first made this many, many years ago. It owes its name and the rice to the Victorian breakfast dish of Anglicised Indian origin. Any of the ingredients, except the rice, can be omitted or changed, for example, if the kipper is replaced with left over ham or cooked smoked haddock you still have a very acceptable dish - possibly needing a name-change!

  Ingredients for 3 - 5:

    1 - 2 kippers
    175 g (6 oz) long grain rice - white or brown
    1 teaspoonful of cumin seeds (these are very much optional)
    1 - 2 onions sliced finely
    olive oil
    50 g (2 oz) mushrooms sliced
    clove garlic chopped
    1 red, yellow or green sweet pepper sliced into strips
    25 g (1 oz) sultanas
    25 g (1 oz) dried apricots chopped
    25 g (1 oz) almonds roughly chopped (can be flaked almonds)
    1 small teaspoonful (or more) curry powder
    ground black pepper
    2 hard boiled eggs sliced
    handful of parsley chopped
    mango chutney

Cook the kippers in a jug of boiling water, remove the bones and skin, break into pieces no longer than 5 cm (2 inches) and put on one side.

If you are using the cumin seeds put a dry frying pan onto the heat, add them and allow to brown. Crush in a mortar or with a rolling pan and reserve with the kipper pieces.

Start cooking the rice in a large saucepan.

Put a tablespoonful or two of olive oil into the frying pan on a gentle heat. Add the onions and when they have started to soften add the mushrooms, garlic and peppers.

When the rice is nearly ready add the sultanas, dried apricots, almonds and reserved kipper and cumin seeds to the mixture in the frying pan. Season with black pepper and the curry powder.

Drain the rice, put a tablespoonful of olive into the saucepan it which it was cooked over a very low heat, put back the rice and add the kipper mixture.

Mix it up and then place it in a heated dish. Put the eggs and parsley on top and serve with the mango chutney.