The last few weeks my husband and I have had a mini obsession with poached duck eggs. During a beautiful trip to the Wye Valley we spotted these milky white eggs in a local farm shop and starting to experiment with making the perfect creamy poached eggs with them. They go really well with spiced rice, a comforting meal with a high protein content (the lentils and eggs) and a satisfying chilli kick.

Lentil Kedgeree & Poached Duck Egg

Ingredients

100 grams Puy Lentils

1 Mug of Basmati Rice

1 Large Onion sliced

3 Large cloves of Garlic minced

1 Teaspoon Carom seeds

1 Teaspoon Nigella seeds

1 Teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 Teaspoon Coriander powder

1 Teaspoon Cumin powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Chilli powder

Large Handful of Coriander chopped leaving a few sprigs for garnish.

50g of Butter

Tablespoon of Oil (any- Vegetable or Sunflower oil)

Teaspoon of salt and black pepper to taste

2 Duck eggs

1. Place the rice and lentils in a saucepan, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cover with 2 and a half cups of water. Heat until boiling with the lid on for 15-20 mins until the rice is fluffy and the lentils are cooked.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the spices (Carom, Nigella, Coriander, Cumin, Turmeric) until they smell toasted and are browning, the aroma will be intoxicating! Add the onions and garlic and fry until caramelised, this can take up to 15-20 mins so this is good to do at the same time as your rice is cooking.Add the butter and 1/2 teaspoon to the mixture and stir and put the heat on very low to let all the flavours mingle.

3. Now it’s time to poach the eggs. This method is fairly foolproof I’ve found! Put a pan of water on to boil and add a dash of white wine vinegar or malt vinegar. When the water is bubbling, crack the duck egg into a small bowl or ramekin. Stir the boiling water with a spoon so you create a ‘whirlpool’ effect and immediately slide in the eggs into the boiling water and poach for 3 minutes exactly with the water gently bubbling. Once the time is up, gently remove the eggs with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel to dry the eggs a little.

4. Combine the rice/lentils and the onion mixture until the rice is enveloped in the spicy golden juice. Fold in the chopped Coriander and you are ready to serve! Spoon the rice into bowls and top with a poached duck egg. Once you cut into the egg, the yolk will ooze into the rice…yum! Garnish with some Coriander leaves and salt and pepper