Greetings... We are going to see how we can make a "Restaurant style" fried rice, at home. I am going to prepare an Egg Fried rice. If you want, you may use chicken and make it Chicken Fried Rice. Even though Fried Rice is a Chinese dish, we are going to make in an Indo-Chinese way. I've taken 1 cup, washed and drained, Basmati rice for this. It will be enough for serving 2 people. Now use 2 cups of water for soaking the rice. Let it soak for 30 minutes. After soaking, add it to boiling water and let it cook till done. Here, I've taken 4 cups (1 litre) of water for boiling When it comes to a boil, add the soaked Basmati Rice to it. The flame should be kept high till rolling boil. Then set the falme on medium. Add 1½ teaspoon of Salt and 1 tablespoon of Refined Oil. Beginners in cooking, take care not to confuse between teaspoon and tablespoon. Now it has come to rolling boil, turn down the flame to medium. The most important factor while making "Restaurant style" fried rice is to cook the rice to the perfect level. The rice should be drained out when it is about 75% - 80% cooked. If the rice is cooked to 100% like regular rice, it tends to clump. Since it is soaked for 30 minutes, the cooking will be done as soon as it starts to rolling boil. So care should be taken as the rice will be overcooked within seconds. Now it's about 80% cooked. Turn off the flame and drain the rice immediately, as the rice tends to overcook even by staying in the hot water. I've kept the rice in a strainer to drain out the water completely. Rice should not be kept in the strainer also for more than 2 minutes. Spread the rice on two plates to let the rice cool down. Now let it cool down completely under a fan, and keep it in the refrigerator for minimum 2 hours. The best way is to prepare rice, in the above method, a day before. The rice prepared in the said way will be seperate and won't clump at all. Now we'll see how to make Fried Rice with this rice. First, let's prepare the eggs. For that, heat 1 tablespoon Refined Oil in a kadai and add 3 eggs to it. Into that, add a pinch of salt ¼ teaspoon of pepper and scramble them. Now move it into another pan. Into the same kadai, add 3 tablespoon of Refined Oil and heat it. Chinese dishes are always cooked on high flame and done very quickly. Due to that reason, always prepare the ingredients beforehand and keep them aside. When the oil is heated well, add 2 teaspoon of finely chopped Garlic. Sauté it slightly. Add ¼ cup of the bulb of Spring Onion (white portion) to it. Add ¼ cup of chopped Carrots. Add ¼ cup of chopped Beans. Add 2 tablespoon of chopped Capsicum (Optional). Add ¼ cup of chopped Cabbage. Sauté it for 1 minute. Unlike traditional cooking, you dont have to cook it for too long. A light stir fry is enough. Take note to maintain high flame throughout. After sautéing for 1 minute, add the scrambled eggs. Mix them together. If you want Chicken Fried Rice, use cooked chicken using salt and pepper, and add it along with scrambled eggs. If you need Mixed Fried Rice, you may use cooked Beef or Prawns along with this. Turn down the flame and add 2 teaspoon of Light Soy Sauce, 2 teaspoon of Chilli-Garlic OR Chilly Sauce, and ½ teaspoon of sugar and mix well. Now add the prepered Basmati Rice to it. Add in ½ teaspoon of crushed Black Pepper OR White Pepper. Add ¼ cup of chopped Spring Onion Greens. Spring Onion gives an amazing flavour to the Fried Rice, so try not to avoid it. Again turn up the flame to the maximum and mix well. Mixing enhances the taste of the Fried Rice. Take care not to break the rice while mixing. There are mainly 2 ways to avoid breaking of rice. One, is to toss the rice as they do in restaurants, Other, by mixing and folding using a wooden spatula like this. Chances of breakage are more while using a steel spoon. Adjust salt according to your preference. Here, we've added salt only while cooking Basmati Rice. We have not added salt after that because in some Soy Sauces there may be salt. So if we add salt while sautéing, you may end up with too much salt in the dish. You may sprinkle some salt after mixing rice and veggies. Mix and fold till all the rice are of same colour. If you notice a portion of rice in the original colour, it means the mixing is not done properly. Make sure that the pan is not crowded; Kadai should be always half filled. In a crowded pan, you will not be able to mix properly, and also rice grains tend to break easily. Chilly Chicken can be served along with Fried Rice. I've already posted the recipe for Chilly Chicken. You can find the link in the description box below. Serve it hot. Try not to cover and keep the Fried Rice. Covering increases the moisture content, thus loosing flavour. If you can keep all the ingredients nearby and cook them in high flame, you too can make a Restaurant style Fried Rice at your home. I've given the ingredient list in the description box below. Let me know your opinions and suggestions in the comment box below.
