Chilli Garlic Fried Rice
The best way to turn leftover rice into something special. Key is the chilli garlic paste that's made from scratch - very low effort but it really adds smokiness and that distinct spicy, chilli flavour to the fried rice.
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
Rice
- 2 ½ Cup Short Grain Rice Jeera Sambar Rice (4 Cups cooked)
- Water for boiling
Chilli Garlic Paste
- 5-6 whole Dry Red Chillies
- 8-10 cloves Garlic peeled
Stir Fry
- ¼ cup Oil
- 2 tsp minced Garlic
- 1 tsp minced Ginger
- ¼ Cup finely chopped Onion
- ¼ Cup finely chopped Carrot
- ¼ Cup finely chopped Beans
- ¼ Cup finely chopped Yellow Capsicum
- ¼ Cup finely chopped Red Capsicum
- 2 Green chillies finely chopped
- 3 tbsp Chilli garlic paste
- 1 tsp low sodium Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Vinegar
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp White Pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped Spring Onion Greens
Instructions
Rice
- Wash and rinse the rice at least three times with room temperature water to remove any excess starch. Drain the water and keep aside.
- Heat water in a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil. Ensure that there is enough water to submerge the rice fully.
- Once the water is boiling, add the washed rice. Cook on medium heat for a few minutes till rice is 95% cooked.
- Once cooked, turn off the heat, drain the rice into a strainer and tap a few times to strain well.
- Transfer onto a tray and spread it out using the back of a spoon. Allow all the extra moisture to evaporate and bring the rice down to room temperature.
Chilli Garlic Paste
- Soak dry red chillies in hot water for about 10 minutes. They need to be soft enough to grind.
- Drain the water and grind the chillies with garlic to a fine paste adding little water if necessary.
Stir Fry
- Heat oil in a wok and add the chilli garlic paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add ginger, garlic, green chillies and onions. Saute for a minute and add the beans, carrot, capsicum and continue to stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the cooked rice, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt and white pepper. Saute on high heat for 2 minutes till everything is combined and tossed well
- Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.
Video
Notes
- If using leftover rice from the previous day, skip all the steps to cook the rice and jump straight to making the chilli garlic paste.
- When making any type of fried rice, cold rice works the best. I usually prefer to use rice from the previous day for the best texture. But if you don’t have leftover rice, cook your rice until about 80% done, transfer it to a tray and allow it to cool completely for a couple hours before making fried rice. This gets rid of any extra moisture in the rice and prevents it from becoming gluggy and sticky.
- Allow the rice to soak for about 20-30 minutes before cooking. This helps in getting rid of all the excess starch and prevents your rice from becoming mushy after getting cooked.
- In order to achieve that authentic Indo-Chinese smokey flavour, I would highly recommend using a heavy-bottomed cast-iron skillet or wok. In case you don’t have one, you can use a non-stick pan too.
- Once you start cooking, things will move really quickly and you won’t have time to chop or grab things. So make sure to keep everything prepped and ready before turning on the heat.
- It is best to cook this entire dish on high heat to make sure the veggies still retain their crunch when you serve it.
Nutrition
Calories: 220kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 475mg | Potassium: 179mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1260IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg