For the potluck we had on last weekend, I made a different vegetable fried rice, not in a typical south indian style. This try is mainly due to the fried rice I tasted in Delhi couple of years ago..It would be in a mild yellow colour with small veggie pieces, little nuts and flavoured with some special spice powder. Having that in mind, I started making this type of veg fried rice since few years. This type of fried rice would go well with any north indian dishes like Dal Tadka, Dal Makhani, paneer dishes and other vegetable dishes.
Ingredients
Basmati Rice - 3 Cups
Beans - 1 Cup cut into tiny squares
Carrot - 3/4 Cup cut into tiny squares
Potato - 1 Cup cut into tiny squares
Fresh Peas or Frozen Peas - 3/4 Cup
Green Capsicum - 1/2 cut into thin pieces
Onion - 1 Medium cut into small pieces
Cashew Nuts - 1 Handful
Jeera - 2 tsp
Cinnamon Sticks / Pattai - 2 Medium
Lavang / Cloves - 3 or 4
Bay Leaves - 5 or 6
Marathi Moggu - 1
Elachi / Cardamom - 2
Pudina Leaves - 1 Handful
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee or clarified butter - 1 tbsp
Salt - To Taste
Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Green Chillies - 4 Big slit into halves
For the Powder
Cinnamon Stick / Pattai - 2
Cloves / Lavang - 5 or 6
Jeera - 1 tsp
Black Pepper - 1 tsp
Elachi - 1
Cashew Nuts - 1 tbsp
Marathi Moggu - 1
Pista - 1/2 tbsp
Method
- Wash and cut the vegetables into desired shapes and keep it aside.
- Roast the ingredients slightly for the powder and grind them in a mixer grinder and keep it ready.
- Wash and soak the basmati rice in a separate vessel. Now start the process of making...
- On a medium heat, keep a thick bottomed cooker or a thick bottomed nonstick vessel on the stove.
- Add 2 tbsp of Olive Oil and 1 tbsp of clarified butter into it. When its heated, add jeera, cinnamon sticks, cloves, Cardamom, Marati Moggu, Bay Leaves into it and fry them for few seconds.
- Add the onions and fry them for a minute with a small pinch of salt.
- Add the ginger garlic paste now and fry till the raw smell goes off completely.
- Add green capsicum, pudina leaves,green chillies in order and fry them again for a minute.
- Add all the cut veggies, turmeric powder, cashew nuts, little salt and fry them for a minute. Now close the lid and let the contents in the pan cook for about 3-4 minutes on a low flame.
- Veggies would get cooked with the steam formed inside..Open the lid and add the grounded powder now and fry all the contents in the vessel or pan for few minutes.
- Now drain the water from Basmati Rice and add the rice into the cooking vessel directly.
- Fry them again for few seconds till the basmati rice becomes little dry and get fried a bit.
- Now add water ( about 5 Cups ) ans required amount of salt to the vessel and close the lid. Let the vegetable fried rice cooks completely on a low flame for about 10-12 minutes.
- If you are making this rice in an electric cooker, transfer the contents from the pan into the cooker and then add water.
- Generally I prepare this veg fried rice directly in a Non stick flat bottomed vessel which makes my process easier.
- After 10-12 minutes, the veg fried rice would have risen upto the edge of the vessel nicely. Carefully mix the fried rice upside down without breaking the basmati rice and close it.
- Now the vegetable fried rice would be in a mild yellow colour with a nice aroma of Indian spices. Serve this with any good side dish and a raita.
Variations
Amount of water depends on the quality of the Basmati rice. So, add water accordingly.
You can add slightly fried cashew nuts, pista, badam into pieces on the top of the fried rice at the end instead of adding the cashew nuts in the beginning.
Tips
Take out the green chilli slits after the veg fried rice is completely done. Its very helpful especially when you are serving this in parties.
No need to add more spices during the tempering process as you would be adding the grounded spice powder too.
