Category: Rice Delights

Winter Fried Rice

I love winters! Cooking becomes all the more fun because of the variety of seasonal produce that nature offers during this season. The colors and diversity at the local store make me a happy home cook!

The reason why I call this recipe winter fried rice is that you can add any number of winter vegetables here. I have gone ahead and added spinach, button mushrooms, carrots, and peas. The idea is to make your fried rice as diverse as possible in using winter produce!

fried rice

The reason why I love this fried rice so much is that it is not only tasty but filled with the crunch of vegetables. The health quotient is also automatically high as a result of so many vegetables. This is a vegetarian version. If you’d like, you can add your favorite protein in here too (chicken or eggs would be a heavenly addition).

fried rice

fried rice

Another reason is the use of the availability of fresh large red chilies or cayenne pepper in the market. The bright red color just pulled me towards it and I bought a few to add in my meals. And it added just the right punch to my fried rice.

Preparation time – 20 minutes

Cook time – 20 minutes

Serves – 2 people

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

  • 100 g cooked rice
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 10 g butter
  • 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 carrot, finely sliced
  • 6 button mushrooms, cut in halves
  • 50 g fresh peas
  • 100 g chopped spinach
  • 1/2 fresh large red chili or cayenne pepper, finely chopped
  • 3 spring onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp sambal sauce
  • 1 tsp black pepper sauce
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp Oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce
  • Spring onion greens for garnish
  • Sesame seeds for garnish
  • Salt to taste [/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

  1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the butter to it and mix till it combines together.
  2. Add the chopped cayenne pepper into the oil. This will help its aroma and flavor of the cayenne pepper infuse into the oil.
  3. Next, add the finely chopped garlic to the oil. Give it a light stir. Do not burn. Let it release its aroma.
  4. Cut the spring onions into medium pieces and add it to the oil. Stir for about thirty seconds.
  5. Add the vegetables including peas, carrot, mushroom, and spinach. You can add any of your favorite winter vegetables here, including mustard leaves, capsicum, cabbage etc. It tastes brilliant!
  6. Stir the vegetables for another minute or two till they cook, but do not get soggy, The vegetables need to remain slightly crunchy to add freshness to the final recipe.
  7. Pour some oyster sauce and mix well.
  8. Season with salt and black pepper powder.
  9. Add the cooked rice, stir well till every grain is coated in the oil and sauces.
  10. Add dark soy sauce and mix well.
  11. Garnish with fresh scallions and sesame seeds.
  12. Serve hot. [/directions]

fried rice

fried rice

fried rice

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One-Pot Spinach Pulao | Slurrp

Winters are my favorite, mostly because of the fresh harvest and options at the local vegetable vendor. I love buying my vegetables on winter days and the options spoil me with choices. A recent visit to my local vegetable vendor exposed me to a variety of greens, from some beautiful spinach, peas, beans and more! Common among all these vegetables was, of course, the color green.

So I thought to myself, what if I bring all these elements together and make a delicious and healthy pulao? This thought made me so excited that I rushed back home with my stock and managed to prepare this moreish spinach pulao.

A note before you start, for the spinach puree that I have used in this recipe, I have blanched it for about two minutes in boiling water, and then ground it to a fine paste.

Here is the recipe.

Preparation time – 30 minutes

Cook time – 45 minutes

Serves – 3-4 people

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

  • 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 30 g cashews
  • 30 g soaked raisins
  • 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 cardamoms
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 20 g ginger garlic paste
  • 50 g fresh peas
  • 50 g green beans, chopped
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 green chilies, chopped
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 200 g soaked basmati rice
  • 150 g spinach puree
  • 500 ml water [/ingredients]

spinach pulao

[directions title=”Directions”]

  1. Heat the ghee or clarified butter in one large pot.
  2. Add the bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves and fry for a few seconds in the hot ghee till you can smell the aroma.
  3. Next, add the cashews and the soaked raisins. Again, fry it for about ten seconds to give a slightly brown layer to the cashews.
  4. Add the diced onions to this and fry till they begin to caramelize.
  5. Throw in the ginger garlic paste and fry it with the onions till the raw smell disappears.
  6. Once the onion is cooked, add the peas and the chopped green beans. Stir well with the onion.
  7. For the touch of heat, add some chopped green chilies as well.
  8. An Indian pulao is usually sweet, so add a teaspoon of sugar to this and fry.
  9. Season with salt and cumin powder.
  10. Next, add soaked basmati rice to this vegetable mixture and stir well.
  11. Now it’s time for the magic ingredient – the spinach puree. Add the puree to the rice and mix it all up gently, till it all comes together.
  12. Pour in some water and give it a gentle stir.
  13. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes and let it rest for another 20 minutes after that.
  14. Serve with raita or plain curd. [/directions]

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One-Pot Chicken Fried Rice

What if I tell you can whip up your favorite chicken fried rice in a pan?

If you love chicken fried rice, this is possible. All you need are a few basic ingredients and you are good to go! I love this version for a quick dinner meal as this chicken recipe has all things beautiful. Just throw in a few vegetables you love for color and crunch, add the chicken, toss up some rice and in no time you have a delicious chicken fried rice.

Here’s a look at the ingredients and procedure.

Preparation time – 20 minutes

Cook time –  30 minutes

Serves – 2 people

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

  • 1 cup boiled rice (should be cold)
  • 100 gms shredded boneless chicken pieces
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp garlic, crushed
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 cup bell peppers, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup mushroom, thickly chopped
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder
  • 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • Salt to taste  [/ingredients]

chicken fried rice

[directions title=”Directions”]

  1. Heat oil in a pan. Fry the onion for about a minute.
  2. Add the shredded boneless chicken pieces and fry this till the chicken is cooked (It won’t take more than 10 minutes as the chicken is already thinly sliced).
  3. Now add the carrots and the bell peppers.
  4. Fry this for a minute, followed by the mushrooms.
  5. Mix and fry all the veggies. Make sure the mushrooms are cooked.
  6. Time to add the seasoning – salt and pepper. Mix well.
  7. Add the cold boiled rice to this and mix well. Add the sauces – sweet chili and soy.
  8. All this needs to be tossed well in the pan, and once done, it’s ready to be served!  [/directions]

It’s as simple as that. This is going to be your go-to meal from now on, I promise!

Here is another version – RESTAURANT STYLE EGG FRIED RICE.

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