Restaurant Style Indo Chinese Veggie Fried Rice.

All my life my favourite order in any restaurant would almost always be “Veggie Fried Rice and Gobi Manchurian. Unfailingly, my mom and cousins would throw up their hands in despair….”Why don`t you even want to try anything else”?? In my opinion, If a restaurant would make fantastic Veggie Fried Rice, they would get notched up a few more stars in their ratings with me!!! Not that my ratings had anything to do with the overall rating of the restaurant. But almost always, this would most definitely work.  One of my favourite haunts in the last few years has been “Ginger Capsicum Fried Rice” from Mainland China. I would order Vegetables in Chinese Parsley Sauce on the side and order their amazing Black Pepper Sauce on the side. I simply love their black pepper sauce which was a side with their soft and tasty Veggie Dumplings….I had been craving for this Veggie Fried Rice for a long long time and I decided it was really time to take matters in to my own hands….I must say I was extremely pleased with the results and all of us were up for seconds and “thirds”…

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Basmati Rice.

1 Cup Red/Yellow/Green/Orange Pepper sliced thin and long.

1 Cup thinly shredded Cabbage.

2 carrots sliced thinly.

2 stems of Spring onion shredded finely.

1 inch Ginger chopped very fine.

4 Garlic Pods chopped fine.

Salt to taste.

1 tsp Pepper Powder.

A pinch of Ajinomoto.

1 Tsp Soy Sauce.

Sesame Oil / Canola Oil.

PREPARATION:

• Cook the basmati rice with just 1 1/2 cups of water. Totally for 2 cups of rice, use 3 cups of water, add a spoon of oil to the rice and cook using rice cooker.
• Set aside to cool when done.
• Meanwhile take a wide mouthed wok and add 3 spoons of oil.  I used the oil leftover from frying the manchurian balls for making Veggie Manchurian. I am sure that would have worked its own magic in adding tons of flavour and taste.
• When  the oil is hot enough, add the diced ginger and garlic. This is what adds the flavour and authentic indo chinese taste to the fried rice. The more finer you chop the ginger and garlic, its better as it flavours and perfumes the oil, which is the base for sauteing all the other veggies.
• After a few seconds, add the thinly sliced peppers, cabbage and the carrots. Stir fry in the oil for a few minutes.

• Add salt for the veggies, pepper powder and a pinch of ajinomoto. Stir well.
• Dont allow the veggies to get mushy and lose their crunch so dont cook the veggies too much.
• In a few minutes, add the cooked rice and carefully stir all the ingredients.
• Add 1 tsp of soy sauce, salt and mix well.
• Garnish with chopped spring onion and enjoy the aroma wafting around you.
• Enjoy hot Veggie Fried Rice with Vegetable Manchurian Gravy.