Fried Rice and Manchurian
After last month’s Hot and Sour soup recipe, I had to write the follow up Fried rice and Manchurian recipes. So, here they are:
Fried Rice
Ingredients to serve 4
- 2 cups cooked rice – I used Jasmine rice
- 1 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons oil
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 green onions, chopped – Separate the white and green parts
- Vegetables (vary the quantity according to your liking and what you have available). Here’s what I used:
- 6 Green beans, chopped to 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup Green peas
- 1/4 cup Carrots, chopped
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1-2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- Salt to taste
Ideally, cook the rice a day ahead. Add the rice wine vinegar to it and fluff it with a fork. Set aside. If you didn’t that’s fine, you can cook the rice now too, just let it cool before mixing it here..
In a frying pan or flat big skillet (for the Teppanyaki effect) heat the oil. Once it’s hot, add the garlic and the white part of the green onions. Saute them for a minute.
Add all the vegetables and saute for another 3-4 minutes.
Follow this with the black pepper and give it a stir. Some people like mushy veggies, some like crunchy. At this point the veggies should be close to what you want them to be.
Add the cooked rice and soy sauce. Stir for a bit and so a taste test. Add more soy sauce or salt, as you’d like.
If you like it more eye-nose-watering hot, then add some red chilli paste.
Garnish with the green part of the green onions and enjoy with Manchurian or as it is.
Vegetable Manchurian
Ingredients to serve 4
For Manchurian
- Oil for deep frying
- Vegetables (vary the quantity according to your liking and what you have available). Here’s what I used:
- 3 cups Cabbage – finely shredded
- 2 cups Carrots – finely grated
- 1 cup green beans – finely grated
- 4 Green onions – finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 green chillies, minced
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 4 Tablespoons All purpose Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Corn flour
- Salt to taste
For sauce
- 1 Tablespoon ginger, minced
- 6-7 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 green onions, chopped – Separate the white and green parts
- 2 green chillies, minced (Vary this according to your taste)
- 1/2 cup Low Sodium Soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon corn flour
- 4 Tablespoons water
- Liquid from vegetables (read below)
- 2 cups water
- Pinch of sugar
- 1 Tablespoon oil
Lets start with making the Machurian.
Get all the vegetables together in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and toss them together. Set aside for 20 minutes.
You’ll notice that the vegetables have oozed out water, squeeze out all the liquid. DO NOT THROW the liquid, just set it aside, we’ll use it to make the sauce.
Now add black pepper, APF and corn flour to the veggies. Shape them in ping-pong sized balls and deep fry them.
Try frying just 1-2 to start with, adjust the heat accordingly, so that they are a nice brown.
Set them aside.
On to making the sauce:
In a sauce pan, drop 1 Tablespoon oil of the oil you just fried with.
Add ginger, garlic, onions and chillies. Saute them for 2-3 minutes.
Add the soy sauce, sugar and the liquid from the vegetables that you had squeezed out earlier. Turn down the heat to low and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
In the mean time, in a separate bowl mix the corn starch with the water. Add it to the saucepan stirring constantly.
Add the water and bring it to a boil. Let it thicken.
Once it’s thick, do a taste test, add salt soy sauce or if you like it more eye-nose-watering hot, then add some red chilli paste.
Take it off the heat.
Transfer the Machurian to the sauce and let them take in all the fiery goodness.
Garnish with the green part of the green onions and enjoy with Fried Rice!
Notes:
- These recipes are very flexible. All ingredients are just examples and should be varied according to what you like.
- You can add eggs to the fried rice.
- Even sesame seeds.
- Get creative and have fun!
