Vegetable fried rice or veg fried rice or Chinese Fried Rice as it is popularly known is a flavourful dish combining the goodness of vegetables and the wholesomeness of rice. It is a staple food across the South Asian countries and in India it is available in fine dining restaurants as also street food. It tastes great with Paneer Chilly Gravy.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2
Ingredients Fried Rice
for Cooking Rice
1 cup – Basmati Rice
1 tsp – Oil
½ tsp - Salt
water for soaking and boiling
for Fried Rice
2 tbsp – Oil
2 – Cloves Garlic (Minced)
½ - Onion (finely chopped)
2 tbsp – Peas
4 tbsp – Spring Onion (Finely Chopped)
2 tbsp – Shredded Cabbage
1/4 – Julienned Carrot
5 – French Beans (chopped)
¼ – Capsicum (finely cut length wise)
2 tbsp – soy sauce
1 tsp – pepper
1 tbsp - vinegar
Salt to taste
Method Fried Rice
In a large wok / kadai heat oil, and stir fry the garlic cloves, saute the onion and spring onions till they release moisture
Add all the vegetables as listed above, ie carrot, cabbage, peas, beans, capsicum or as per your preference (for eg sweet corn could be included too) and stir fry on high flame.
The vegetables have to remain crunchy.
Add soy sauce and vinegar and mix well together coating all the veggies together
Add the cooked rice without turning down the heat
Mix everything well together without breaking the rice grains
Add pepper and a bit of salt
Add the spring onions as garnish and mix eell
Chilli Paneer Gravy
Preparation time: 10-12 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 3
The origin of Chilli Paneer is credited to Nelson Wang, who used the Indian ingredient paneer and add soy sauce, corn starch, onions and capsicum to the dish. It is an Indo-Chinese dish popularised first in Eastern India, specifically Bengal. Chilli Paneer Dry is served as an appetizer while Chilli Paneer Gravy is served with noodles or rice.
This recipe of Chilli Paneer uses maida or refined flour and cornflour for coating the Paneer to make it crispy. In case you prefer a healthier version rice flour does the trick too.
Ingredients
For Coating Paneer
200 gms – Paneer (approx. 1 inch cubed pieces)
¼ cup – Corn Flour
¼ cup – Refined Flour / Maida
1 tsp – Soy Sauce
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp - Black Pepper Powder
½ tsp – Chilli Powder
¼ tsp – Ginger-garlic Paste
¼ cup – Water
Oil for deep frying
For Gravy
4 tsp - Oil
2 tbsp – Spring Onion (finely chopped) + 1 tbsp Spring Onions (for garnishing)
2 - Garlic Cloves (Crushed)
2 tbsp – onion (chopped roughly)
2 - Green Chilli (slit length wise)
1 – Green Capsicum (Diced)
1 - Bell Pepper Red (diced)
1 – Medium Onion (Diced)
1 tsp - Ginger (Chopped)
2 tbsp - Soy Sauce
1 tbsp – White Vinegar
1 tbsp – Red Chilli Sauce
¼ tsp - Black Pepper Powder
2 tsp – Sesame Seeds
Salt to Taste
For Slurry
1 tbsp - Cornflour + 1 cup Water
Method Chilli Paneer Gravy
In a bowl take cornflour, refined flour, pepper, red chilli, soy, salt, ginger-garlic paste and water and mix well till no lumps remain. This flour has to be of thick flowing consistency which can coat the paneer cubes nicely
Drop the paneer cubes into the marinade and after coating them, drop them in the pre-heated wok which has oil for deep frying and fry all the pieces.
Do not start turning the pieces immediately. Flip only after they are holding their shape and fry till golden brown
Take them out and put on a tissue paper to drain excess oil and keep aside
For the gravy, in a separate kadai put in put in the crushed garlic cloves and saute till the raw smell of garlic goes
Add spring onion, diced onion, green chillies, and saute well
Add the bell peppers and toss well
Add vinegar, chilli sauce, soy sauce and pepper powder and a little salt and mix well
In 1tbsp cornflour, mix 1 cup of water and make a thin slurry
Pour this into the veggies mix and let it come to slow boil stirring continously, the mix will get a sheen
Put in the paneer cubes and mix well
Put some more spring onions as garnishing on top and serve hot with Fried Rice
Veg Fried Rice uses minimal oil and lots of vegetables so it is a healthy and guilt free dish to enjoy along with the utterly delicious Paneer Chilly Gravy
