Curried Fried Rice

Hi again, it's Angela Ploegman and I'm super excited to be back for Day 2 of my week on the SEI Lifestyle Blog.

This year I'm making a special effort to document my family recipes. I do this by first posting the recipe to my blog (already doing this part!) and then I'm planning to transfer them to a handmade recipe book/recipe stand. If things go well, I hope to make digital photo books for my immediate family as a Christmas present. As my husband is originally from India and all four of my Grandparents are from the Netherlands, there should be an interesting mix of recipes by year end!

So today, I'm sharing a recipe for Curried Fried Rice. All of my Indian recipes come from my sister in law...each time I visit, I try and pick up a new one...usually I modify them a bit for my husband's taste, but this dish is perfect the way it came!

Curried Fried Rice

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Butter
3 Tbsp Oil
6-7 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
4-5 green cardamon pods, crushed open
1 cinnamon stick, crushed
1 Tbsp green fennel seeds
1/3 cup whole raw almonds
1 finely chopped onion
1-2 green chilies (optional)
1 1/2 Tbsp ginger garlic paste (if you can't find prepared, use equal parts of each mixed together)
mixed vegetables, 1 small package, frozen
3 cups basmati rice
1 can coconut milk + enough water to equal 5 cups
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp garum masala
salt to taste (usually about 2 tsps)

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter in oil over low heat in a heavy bottomed stock pot. You will end up with 6-8 cups cooked rice, so use an appropriate sized pot.
2. Add the cloves, bay leaves, cardamon pods, cinnamon stick and green fennel seeds.
3. When the aroma of the spices is noticeable, add the raw almonds. Stir occasionally until the almonds are lightly roasted.
4. Increase the heat to medium-low and add the onion and green chilies (if desired). Cook until the onions are translucent.
5. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Cook for 5 minutes.
6. Increase the heat to medium and add the frozen mixed vegetables. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are warmed through.
7. In a separate bowl, combine the coconut milk with enough water to make a total of 5 cups of liquid. Add the salt until the liquid is obviously salty (this is OK as the rice will adsorb most of the saltiness), then add the sugar and the garum masala. Set aside.
8. Add the rice to the onion/vegetable/spice mixture. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the rice kernels appear opaque.
9. Add the coconut/water mixture to the rice and bring to a full boil (stirring constantly and increasing the heat if necessary). The mixture will become thicker before it boils. Turn on a second element to 'simmer or low' to have ready for the next step.
10. When the rice mixture reaches a full boil, put the lid on the pot and transfer the pot to the alternate element (set on simmer or low).
11. Cook for 25 minutes, take off the stove and let rest for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! It's one of my favorites!

Angela Ploegman
My Blog