Burnt Garlic Fried Rice

Fluffy grains of long grain rice, kissed with garlicky oil, accented by crispy bits of gently fried garlic and packed with healthy bits of crunchy vegetables.

Step 1: Ingredients:

3 cups cooked rice; Basmati or any long-grained rice (each grain should be separate)

4 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)

½ cup green onions, white portion, chopped (or regular onions)

2 green chilies/jalapenos, sliced or chopped/minced

¼ cup finely chopped celery (optional)

1 cup broccoli, cut into small florets

½ cup sprouts

½ cup snap peas, sliced or left whole

1 cup carrot, finely chopped

2 to 3 tbsp soy sauce (light)

1 to 1 ½ tsp vinegar

Salt and black pepper to taste

3 tbsp any cooking oil/sesame oil

For Garnish:

Chopped green onions/Scallions

Step 2: How to Make Burnt Garlic Vegetable Fried Rice:

Prepare all the vegetables and cook the rice ahead of heating up the wok or kadai.

Keep all the ingredients ready.

Heat a large deep saucepan, wok or kadai until very hot and add the oil.

Once the oil heats up, stir in the finely chopped garlic and sauté on medium heat, stirring often until each bit is crispy and golden brown.

Step 3:

Remove a couple of teaspoons and keep aside for garnishing at the end.

Throw in the chopped green onions, green chilies and celery and saute on high for about a minute until the onions are slightly soft.

Step 4:

Toss in the chopped vegetables; broccoli, snap peas, carrots, a bit of salt to taste and black pepper powder; keep tossing on high heat until heated through for a minute.

While adding salt, remember, you will be adding soy sauce later which also has salt in it.

Step 5:

Do not overcook the vegetables.

Add the cooked rice and sprouts along with soy sauce; mix again gently to avoid breaking the long grains of rice and keep stir frying until heated through.

Step 6:

Remove from heat, sprinkle vinegar, give it a good mix and serve hot, garnished with chopped green onions and fried garlic!

Serve aromatic garlic flavored Indo-Chinese Burnt Garlic Vegetable Fried Rice with any Chinese flavored gravy dish or a simple soup.
Happy Cooking!

Step 7: Notes:

Adjust the amount of vegetables to your liking. Seasoning and amount of soy, vinegar etc can be according to personal taste.

Other vegetables you can add are chopped bell pepper/capsicum, green beans, shredded cabbage, sliced mushrooms etc. For added protein, vegetarians can add tofu or paneer. Other options are eggs (scrambled), cooked chicken, seafood etc.