Restaurant Style Vegetable Fried Rice

Restaurant Style Vegetable Fried Rice

 

Ingredients 

1. Cooked & cooled basmati rice 2 cups

2. Finely chopped vegetables(carrots 1/2 cup beans 1/2 cup, cabbage 3/4 cup & capsicums 1/2 cup

3. Finely chopped onion 1/2 cup

4. Spring onion whites & greens 2 tbsp each

5. Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp 

6. White pepper powder 1 tsp 

7. Sugar a pinch 

8. Salt to taste

9. Soy sauce 1 tsp 

10. Mirin or vinegar 1 tsp 

11. Sesame oil 11/2 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp

Method Of Preparation 

1. Add oil in a pan on a high flame. When the oil gets very hot, add the finely chopped onion & spring onion whites. Sauté it for 30 seconds. Now add the ginger garlic paste & sauté for 10 seconds. Add the carrots & sauté for a minute. Add the beans & sauté for a minute. Add the capsicums & cabbage & sauté for a minute. 

2. Add the rice & mix it well with the vegetables. Sauté the rice for 30 seconds. 

3. Add salt, white pepper powder followed by soy sauce & vinegar. Mix everything together. Add a pinch of sugar. 

4. Drizzle 1/2 tsp of sesame oil to the rice & mix it well.

5. Add the spring onion greens & mix it together with the rice & turn off the gas. 

6. Serve hot with gobi manchurian.

Some Important Tips To Make The Perfect Fried Rice 

1. Use long grained basmati rice to get the perfect looking fried rice. 

2. Cook the rice well in advance. Once the rice is cooked, spread on a tray & place it under a fan so that the rice becomes dry. Do this especially if your using freshly cooked rice as it ll have a lot of moisture in it.

If you're using a day old rice from your refrigerator, then you don't have to do this as it will already be dry. Day old rice would be lumpy so make sure to break the lumps before you fry it. It is always better to cook rice at least three hours in advance as the fresh rice becomes mushy when you get it.

3. Rinse the rice really well before cooking.

4. It is best to cook fried rice on a wok as you don't want to stir the veggies, instead you want to flip & toss the veggies & rice. It is not possible to do that on a skillet or a flat pan. 

5. Make sure the entire cooking is done on a high flame. Do not reduce the heat at any point. If you cook on a low flame, the veggies will turn soggy & will not remain crunchy. Start adding the veggies only when the oil becomes very hot. 

6. Do not sauté the vegetables for more than a minute. Sautéing too much will again make it lose its crunchiness. Keep tossing & flipping the veggies & rice so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the wok. 

7. Do not add too many sauces & make the fried rice soggy. Adding soy sauce is optional. Some do not like to add soy sauce as it changes the color of the rice & it has a strong pungent flavor. You may just add salt, pepper & vinegar or even skip vinegar & just add soy sauce. 

8. After you add the rice toss well so that each grain is separated. 

9. Do not overcrowd the wok with too many vegetables & rice. If your wok is small & there is a lot of rice & veggies, then cook them in batches. 

10. Do not add too much oil to the rice & make the rice too oily. 

11. Mirin actually gives a restaurant flavor to the dish. If you don't have it, then replace it with vinegar. 

12. Chop the vegetables finely so that they cook fast. 

13. You can add 1/4 tsp MSG/ajinomoto if you wish to. 

Gobi Manchurian

Gobi Manchurian

Ingredients 

A. For Marinating The Cauliflower Florets

1. Cauliflower florets 300g

2. Black pepper powder 1 tsp

3. Ginger paste 1 tsp

4. Garlic paste 21/2 tsp

5. Green Chilli paste 1/2 tsp

6. Salt to taste

B. For The Batter

1. All purpose flour/maida 1/2 cup

2. Corn starch 1/4 cup

3. Pepper powder 1/4 tsp

4. Baking powder 1 tsp

5. Salt to taste 

6. Oil 2 tbsp

7. Ice cold water 1/2 cup or more 

C. For The Sauce

1. Spring onions 3 finely chopped(white & greens separated)

2. Ginger paste 1/2 tsp

3. Garlic paste 1 tsp

4. Garlic very thinly sliced or chopped 5

5. Ginger finely chopped 1"

6. 1 tsp Corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water 

7. Soy sauce 11/2 tbsp plus 1 tsp more

8. Red chilli sauce/siriracha 11/2 tsp

9. Tomato ketchup 2-3 tbsp 

10. White pepper powder 1/2 tsp

11. Peanut butter 1/4 tsp 

12. Sugar 1 tsp 

13. Vinegar 1 tsp

14. Salt 

15. Sesame oil 3 tbsp

D. For Garnish

1. Sesame seeds a little 

2. Spring onion greens a handful 

Method Of Preparation 

A. Marinating The Cauliflower Florets

1. Wash the florets nicely in running cold water & pat dry them or drop the florets in a saucepan of hot water for a minute & cover the pan with a lid. After a minute, immediately wash the florets under cold running water & pat dry.

2. Marinate with ginger garlic green chilli paste, black pepper powder & salt.

3. Cover & keep it on the countertop for 30 minutes.

B. Frying The Florets

1. In a bowl, add the all purpose flour, corn starch, salt, oil & black pepper powder. Mix everything together nicely. Then add sufficient amount of water & add the florets into this batter. After 30 minutes, coat the florets in the batter nicely. 

2. Heat a skillet with oil on medium heat. Deep fry the florets in the oil. 

3. Drain them onto paper towels. 

4. If you want them to be extra crispy, then you may fry them a second time on high flame or if you are unable to serve this soon, then you may fry them a second time .

C. Preparing The Sauce

1. Take a heavy bottomed skillet & add sesame oil into it. Then add the ginger garlic paste & thinly sliced ginger & garlic. Then add the white pepper powder, soy sauce, red chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, peanut butter, sugar, vinegar & spring onion whites. Mix everything together. Do all this with the flame switched off. 

2. Now turn on the flame on medium heat & when the sauce begins to boil add the corn starch dissolved in water. 

3. Mix it well & let the sauce thicken to half of its original quantity, then turn off the flame. If you like it very saucy,you don't have to reduce the quantity to half or if you like it somewhat dry, then reduce it to half just enough to coat the florets. If there's too much sauce, the florets will not stay crispy. 

4. Add the fried cauliflower to the sauce only after 5 minutes. Do not add as soon you turn off the flame as that will make your paneer soggy. If Your adding the florets only at the time of serving, then you may need to heat the sauce a little if it has cooled down.

5. Garnish with white sesame seeds & spring onion greens & serve hot with fried rice/noodles or serve as a starter.

Corn starch dissolved in water

Sauce ready for the florets to be dropped in or to be drizzled over the florets.

Florets coated with sauce

                                        Gobi Manchurian ready to be served

Notes

1. I would suggest you follow the steps exactly until frying the florets & for the sauce you can make adjustments. You can adjust the quantity of the sauces, ketchup, vinegar & sugar as per your choice. If you want it a little more sour, then you can add more of soy sauce. If you feel you don't want to add the above mentioned quantity of soy sauce, then you may reduce it. Also, soy sauce makes the sauce darker in color. If you want it more tangy then add more soy sauce & vinegar, if you like it more sweet, then increase the quantity of ketchup. Increase or reduce the quantity of the ingredients for the sauce as per your liking. It can be altered as per your taste.

2. The consistency of the batter needs to be a little thick & not watery. 

3. Follow the above steps exactly for marinating & frying the florets & l'm sure the fried florets will turn out very crispy.

4. Also adjust the quantity of black pepper as per your taste.

5. Corn starch can be replaced with rice flour for marinating the paneer.

6. If you feel the florets will become soggy when you add them in the sauce, then just arrange them on your serving plate & drizzle some sauce over them. This way the florets remain crisp.

Whole Wheat Veggie Pot Stickers

Whole Wheat Veggie Pot Stickers

Ingredients

1. For the Chappati Dough

A. Whole Wheat Flour 2 cups

B. Water 1 cup(approx)

C. Oil 3 tsp plus 1/2 tsp for oiling the dough

D. Salt

2. For The Filling

A. Shredded cabbage 1 cup

B. Finely chopped capsicum 1/4 cup

C. Grated carrots 2 tbsp

D. Finely chopped mushrooms 1/2 cup

E. Finely chopped garlic 1/3 cup

F. Finely chopped onions 1/4 cup

G. Soy sauce 1 tbsp

H. Rice Vinegar 1 tsp

I. Salt

J. White pepper 1 tsp

K. Spring Onions 2 finely chopped

L. Sesame Oil 1-2 tbsp

M. Red chilli flakes 1/2 tsp(optional)

3. For Frying

1. Sesame oil 

2. Water 

4. For The Dipping Sauce

A. Soy sauce 1/4 cup

B. Sweet soy sauce or Sweet chilli sauce  1/8 cup

C. Rice vinegar 1 tbsp

D. Dry sherry 1 tbsp

E. Minced garlic 4

F. Sesame oil 2 tbsp

G. Water 2 tbsp

H. Spring onion greens 1 tbsp 

I. Red chilli flakes 1/2 tsp(optional)

5. For The Garnish

A. Spring Onion greens

B. Chilli Flakes(optional)

C. Sesame seeds

Method Of Preparation 

1. Chappati Dough

A. Add flour in a bowl & add salt, oil & mix well.

B. Then add hot water little at a time & using your fingers bring the dough together & make a ball out of it.

C. Knead the ball of dough well till it becomes soft & pliable. Please note that the dough should neither be too soft nor too hard.

D. Put it in a bowl & oil the dough(if you wish to) & keep it aside covered with a damp cloth for 15-20 minutes.

2. For The Filling

A. Add oil in a skillet. Add garlic. Sauté till the garlic starts to change color.

B. Then add onions. Sauté till they turn translucent. Then add the spring onion whites.

C. Now add the carrots. Sauté for a while. Then add mushrooms & capsicum. Sauté till all the veggies turn soft & then add the cabbage & sauté till they get cooked. Add salt & pepper & give it a mix.

D. Now add the soy sauce & vinegar & stir well, sprinkle the spring onion greens & turn off the gas.

E. Let this mixture cool.

3. Making The Potstickers

A. Take the dough & divide it into equal sized balls. Keep them covered with a damp cloth.

B. Roll out each ball into roundels/circle/discs about 1/16" to 1/8" thickness. Keep them covered with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying. 

C. In the center of the disc, place a heaped tablespoon of the filling.

D. Using ur fingertips apply some water all the way around the edges of the circle & fold over(pull one side over the other) such that it looks like a semi-circle.

E. Using a fork, you can make those markings on the edges.

4. For Frying

A. Grease a heavy bottomed skillet with oil & turn on the flame & let the pan heat up on medium-high heat. Add three to four dumplings in it with the seam side up. 

B. Once you add the dumplings in the skillet, add 2 tsps of oil on the dumplings(a tsp of oil on all the dumplings together)

C. Cook the dumplings on medium high heat for 3 minutes on one side till it becomes golden brown in color. To check if it has browned, just lift one or two dumplings & check the bottom. The traditional Chinese potstickers are browned only on one side but if you wish to, you can cook both sides. In that case, after 3 minutes, flip to the other side & cook for an additional minute or till this side also becomes golden brown.

D. Now add 1/2 cup of water to the pan(upto 1/8") & immediately cover it with a lid & let them steam. You need to be careful as there will be a lot of splattering. Turn the heat to medium-low & cook till the potstickers get cooked well. This will take upto 4 minutes. 

E. After 4 minutes, open the lid & cook so that the rest of the water evaporates. As the water evaporates, the pot stickers will stick to the bottom of the pan & become crispy again. They need to be soft, at the same time crispy too. Repeat this for all the dumplings.

F. Remove the dumplings on to a plate & when serving always serve with the browned side facing up.

5. Dipping Sauce

A. In a non stick pan, mix everything together & put it on a gas & turn on the flame to medium low. Keep stirring till it begins to boil & turn off the flame. Garnish with spring onion greens.

B. Turn off the flame as soon as it is about to start boiling. Do not let the sauce boil.

6. Plating

1. Arrange the pot stickers on a platter & sprinkle them with spring onion greens, sesame seeds & chilli flakes.

2. You can either dip these pot stickers in the sauce & eat it or you can pour a few drops of sauce on the potstickers & eat them. Do not drown the dumplings in the sauce.

Notes

1. Please note that the quantity of water added for making the dough is just an eye ball measurement. You may not need to use so much or you may need to use a little more depending on the quality of flour used. So add water little at a time.

2. You need to seal the edges tight(just pinch the edges well), otherwise the dumplings would open up while frying.

3. You need to be very very careful while adding salt to the filling because soy sauce already has salt in it & if you add the regular amount of salt, then the stuffing is going to turn out too salty. So add very little salt & check & if needed, add more.

4. I did not have spring onions, hence I have replaced it with coriander leaves.

5. While preparing the sauce, do not turn on the flame until you add all the ingredients in the pan.

6. If you don't have access to dry sherry, then you may replace it with another spoon of rice vinegar.

7. Non vegetarians can add minced meat along with veggies. While cooking this, add some meat stock too, it will make the filling even more tastier & flavorful. Do not add too much of it, then it will be difficult to place the filling inside the dumplings. Just add enough to make the filling wet.

8. I have used wheat flour for a healthier version but you can always make it with all purpose flour(maida) & that is what is used in the traditional pot sticker recipe.