Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe (Indo Chinese Fried Rice)
Vegetable Fried Rice is a quick Main Course Rice Recipe where cooked rice is stir fried with vegetables in a large wok. Pantry staples, Asian Condiments and seasoning makes it a delectable family-friendly meal that can be put together under 30 minutes.
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Basmati Rice Read notes below
- ½ cup Carrots (finely chopped)
- ½ cup French Beans (finely chopped)
- ½ cup Baby Corn (finely sliced)
- 2 tbsp Garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp Ginger (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp Spring Onions or Scallions (finely chopped)
- 3-4 Green Chillies (finely chopped)
- 2-3 tbsp Spring Onion Greens
- 2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce Read notes below
- 2 tsp Red Chilli Sauce
- 1 tsp Green Chilli Sauce
- 3 tbsp Sesame Oil
- Salt to taste
1 cup is 250ml, 1 tbsp 15ml, 1 tsp 5ml
Instructions
- Wash the Basmati Rice for a couple of times under running tap water. The water should be clear. Allow it to soak for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the water, rinse once and keep aside.
- In a wide pan or broad vessel, add 6 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add the soaked and drained rice to the boiling water along with salt to taste and cook it on medium heat until it is cooked 90%. The rice should have a bite.
- Once the rice has cooked, drain it in a colander. Keep it aside to cool down completely and become dry. Do not disturb the rice at this stage else the grains will break.
- After an hour, the rice would fluff up and turn completely non-sticky with each grain long and firm.
- Heat a wok, add oil, finely chopped ginger, garlic, spring onions (not the greens) and green chillies. Toss well until they are roasted.
- Now add the mixed vegetables (corn + french beans + carrots) along with salt to taste and black pepper powder.
- Now add the sauces - soy sauce, red chilli sauce and green chilli sauce.
- Toss well and add the cooked Basmati rice and spring onion greens.
- Mix well, check seasoning and then switch off the flame. Serve piping hot with more chopped spring onion greens and a gravy of your choice.
Video
Notes
Rice
- Ideally, time taken for the recipe should be 30 mins. It has taken me 20 mins for cooking the rice from scratch. If using leftovers, the time should be strictly 30 mins out of which prep time would be 20 mins and cook time 10 mins.
- I have used 1 & 1/2 cups of uncooked (raw) rice for this recipe which was soaked, cooked on stove top and turned into fried rice. Approximately 4-5 cups of cooked rice.
- Vegetable Fried Rice can be made with - Short Grain - Sona Masuri, Kolam (available in Indian Grocery Stores), Long Grain Basmati Rice, Brown Rice OR even substitute Rice with Quinoa.
- If you don't have leftover rice in the refrigerator, you can cook the rice from scratch (stove top instructions included in the blog post), allow it to attain room temperature and proceed with the recipe.
- Any vegetable of your choice can be used for this recipe. It is one of the best recipes for "clean your refrigerator day". You can reduce the portion of rice and add more veggies too, if you like.
- Mung Bean Sprouts also make a great addition if you are looking for extra protein. You can substitute with Tofu or Paneer too.
- Tofu or Paneer can be shallow fried or pan fried and added along with Scallions (Green Onions) as garnish.
- Note - Vegetables should be finely chopped.
- I have used Dark Soy Sauce for this recipe. You can use Tamari or Coconut Aminos for gluten free substitutes.
- Dark soy sauce is less saltier than the light soy sauce. It is thicker too in comparison.
- You can easily substitute Red & Green Chili Sauce with Hot Sauce or Sriracha.
- All condiments contain sodium so make sure to taste check and add extra, if required at every stage.
- Green Chilies are optional. The condiments should provide enough heat.
- Quantities of soy sauce, red chili sauce and green chili sauce along with black pepper can be modified according to your taste and preferences
- Cooking on high heat - The gas stove should not be left unattended as cooking happens quickly on high heat. Keep all the ingredients ready on the kitchen counter.
- Meal Prep - You can chop the ingredients, pre-cook the rice and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to make it. Saves a lot of time.
- The only time consuming part about this recipe is chopping vegetables. If you have a Food processor, you can save time. If you find chopping vegetables therapeutic, like me, enjoy the process.
- Chinese Cuisine or Stir Fries involve very little cook time. The ingredients are prepped and ready to hit the hot wok. Cooking happens on high heat which is why it is important to cut your vegetables in uniform size for even cooking.
- Oil - One of the most important ingredient in Chinese Cuisine is Oil or fat used. Typically Sesame Oil is used and I highly recommend the same for maximum flavors. You could also use Olive Oil or Avocado Oil. Butter is not essential.
- The Rice stays fresh in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. It can also be frozen, thawed and reheated in the microwave.
- Leftovers can be cooled and stored in an airtight container. It can either be microwaved or heated on a stove top (in a pan with some oil)