I promised you this, the recipe for my easy and incredibly delicious Veg Fried Rice to go with the Veg Manchurian I shared yesterday, and here we are. This is guaranteed to become your favorite vegetable fried rice recipe, or maybe even your favorite rice recipe. It really is that good, with a restaurant-like taste that’s impossible to resist. And it doesn’t have to be eaten with the Manchurian, of course, although it’s excellent with that. This fried rice makes a great meal by itself. Toss in some baked tofu cubes to pump up the protein. This is the way I’ve been making veg fried rice for years, and I love it. The stir-fried rice comes out just perfect, and you don’t have to plan ahead or make the rice a day ahead, or everything else you are usually instructed to do when making fried rice. In fact, this recipe takes hardly any time to make. You can use leftover rice and add other veggies you have on hand. If cooking rice from scratch, put your rice to cook in the microwave (or the stovetop), prep the veggies and other ingredients, and put it all together in under five minutes. And you’ll be so, so glad you did. This is an extremely kid-friendly recipe, in case you have picky eaters around. It’s rice, it’s salty, and for once they won’t even mind the veggies.
Ingredients for the vegetable fried rice
How to make the best vegetable fried rice
Pick the right rice: The rice is of course the most important ingredient in your fried rice, so you need to make sure you get it right. Most Indo-Chinese cooks would use basmati, not the short-grain or medium-grain rice you usually find in Chinese foods. So use basmati or another long grain, if possible. Cook the rice: The rice needs to be cooked just enough, but not to the point of softness. If the rice is too soft, it will mash when you fry it in the wok, and you’ll have a rice pudding instead of fried rice. Not the effect you’re going for. To get your rice just right, you will need to soak it for 30 minutes. Then drain, measure in the water, and toss it in the microwave. If you don’t want to use a microwave, you can cook the rice on the stovetop. Bring a bit pot of salted water to boil, add the rice the way you would pasta, and cook it until the grain is just soft enough that it mashes when you apply slight pressure, but not falling apart. Dry the rice: That’s right, you need your cooked rice grains to be as “dry” as possible so they fry up nicely in the hot wok. To do this, drain the rice thoroughly after cooking, in case there’s any water left in it, then spread it in an even layer in a baking sheet and let it stand while you prep the rest of your ingredients. Prep the veggies: Chop the veggies really fine for the fried rice. That way they won’t take too long to cook in the screaming-hot wok. I like using scallions, carrots and bell peppers. Green beans, onions, broccoli, cauliflower would all work too. You will need a ton of garlic for this recipe: I use a whole big bulb for two cups of rice. Sauce it right: Like with the veg manchurian you will need a medley of sauces for this recipe–although not as many–and together they’ll make your fried rice taste like heaven. I use tamari (soy sauce is fine), hot chili sauce, rice vinegar and some liquid aminos which add a nice, smoky flavor. If you don’t have liquid aminos you can skip it and use more tamari. Put it all together: The rice comes together really fast once your wok is hot, so make sure you have all ingredients prepped and ready before you turn on the stove.
What can I serve with the fried rice?
Any Indo-Chinese veggie or tofu dish will go beautifully with the fried rice. I usually serve it with my Veg Manchurian or my Chilli Tofu. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
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