This chilli garlic fried rice recipe is an Indo Chinese style recipe – an Indian twist to Chinese fried rice by adding lots of garlic and spices. Ready in less than 30 minutes, it’s an excellent option for a weeknight dinner. It’s also a one pot meal – everything is cooked together in one pot, so minimal washing up. Lastly, it’s super adaptable – uses minimal ingredients and is a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge and pantry, especially boiled rice.
Why do I love this chilli garlic fried rice so much?
It’s super versatile: This recipe is so adaptable and can be made using whatever meat and vegetables are available at home. One carrot or two carrots, fresh vegetables or frozen vegetables, raw chicken or leftover chicken pieces from a salan, beef and chicken both, or no meat at all. It always tastes delicious.
It’s a great way to use up leftovers: Anytime I have leftover rice and I need to use it up, I will look through the fridge for whatever meat and vegetables I have, then cook this recipe up.
It’s a one pot meal: Regular fried rice usually requires an additional gravy on the side, but the assortment of ingredients along with the spices makes this a complete meal. It’s also made in one pot, so minimal washing up is needed.
It can be switched up with sauces and spices: The two spices that should be kept constant in this recipe are red chilli flakes and garlic, but other than that there are so many options to play around in this recipe. Drizzle a few drops of sesame oil in the end for a more traditional Chinese flavour, add hoisin sauce or oyster sauce for a richer and smokier taste, use Thai curry paste to make Thai style chilli fried rice, add more chilli or sriracha sauce for an even stronger kick. This Desi twist to fried rice is bound to be a favourite in your home as well.
Tips for making Chilli Garlic fried rice:
Use cold, day old rice: Freshly cooked rice is too soft and wet, and will not give the right fried rice texture. The best rice for fried rice is cold, day old rice because the rice grains have dried out. I actually love fried rice because it’s a great way to use up leftover rice. In case you don’t have old rice, you can make the rice fresh, just take it out in a baking tray and let it cool down before using in the fried rice recipe.
Season with salt carefully: This recipe uses soy sauce and chicken cube, both of which can be quite salty depending from brand to brand . Plus the leftover rice will also be seasoned beforehand. So always taste the fried rice in the end, and then add additional salt if needed.
Vegetables: Pretty much any vegetable can be used in this stir fry, just make sure to dice and chop them all the same size so that they cook evenly. My preferred vegetables are onions, peas, carrots, corn, and capsicum. I also like to add spring onions at the end as garnish, and since I rarely have fresh spring onion with me, I will chop spring onion up and keep it in the freezer so I can use it as needed.
Use the right pan: Fried rice is traditionally made in a wok, which is ideal as the rice can be tossed without flying around everywhere. If you don’t have a wok, you can use a skillet or a pot just make sure it is large with enough surface area for the rice to fry properly.
Looking for other Asian style recipes – check out the following:
Ingredients
For the eggs:
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
For the chilli garlic fried rice:
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 200 gm boneless chicken sliced
- 2 cups assorted vegetables sliced
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 chicken cube
- 3 cups boiled rice at least a day old (I have used Basmati rice, but you can use brown rice or whatever rice is available)
- Spring onions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
For the eggs:
- Crack the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and red chili powder. Whisk well.
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large non stick wok or non stick frying pan and add the eggs.
- Cook the eggs till they are slightly set from the side, then scramble with a spatula so they resemble scrambled eggs.
- Once the eggs are completely cooked, remove and set aside.
For the Chilli Garlic fried rice:
- In the same pan, add the remaining oil along with the sliced garlic. Saute the garlic till light golden and then add the garlic paste and red chilli flakes.
- Saute for about 30 seconds – 45 seconds till the red chilli flakes release their aroma and then add the boneless chicken.
- Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes till it changes colour from pink to white and then add the assorted vegetables.
- Saute for a few minutes, and then add soy sauce, vinegar and chicken cube.
- Add boiled rice (should be cold) and toss through. Taste and add salt if needed.
- Once rice is warmed, add the scrambled egg and toss again. Top with spring onions (if available)
- Serve hot.
Recipe Notes Chilli Garlic
Rice: The best rice for fried rice is cold, day old rice because the rice grains have dried out. In case you don’t have old rice, you can make the rice fresh, just take it out in a baking tray and let it cool down before using in the chilli garlic fried rice recipe.
Salt: Add salt right at the end after tasting the rice. This recipe uses soy sauce and chicken cube, both of which can be quite salty. So taste the fried rice in the end, and then add additional salt if needed.
Vegetables: I usually use a mix of fresh and frozen vegetables for this recipe – onions, carrots, peas, corn, and capiscum. You can pretty much any vegetable in this stir fry, just dice them all the same size so that they cook evenly.
Credits: www.mirchitales.com