Burnt garlic chili egg fried rice

     I always have this quirk of trying dishes that I have eaten from restaurants. If I liked any dish that tastes different, I try to recreate it. Sometimes it flops, but most of the time it comes out well! Few months back, Akhil and his two friends won a $100 gift card for winning a movie quiz conducted by the Kerala Association of Washington. All three of them are movie buffs, so no big deal for them. Ahem! The winners decided to treat their families with the gift money, and we ended up in an Indo-Chinese restaurant for dinner. We had a burnt chili garlic fried rice with fried garlic tidbits in it, which gave it a nice garlicky flavor. It really caught my attention. I wanted to recreate it so badly that I packed the leftover rice from the restaurant and made it the next day itself. Need I say it was yummy! 🙂

    So all you garlic fans, take out your garlic, chop it and try this one. You can add chicken, prawns or any veggies to this according to your preference. Nicely brown the garlic, but remember not to burn it, as it will taste bitter and spoil the whole dish! Pair it with any Chinese side dish and you are done! I especially loved it with chicken in hot garlic and pepper sauce that I had from the restaurant, will try to recreate that too soon. Until then I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1. Cooked rice (long grain or jasmine) – 2 – 2.5 cups

2. Oil – 1 tsp

    Eggs – 2, beaten with 1 pinch of salt

3. Oil – 1.5 tbsp

4. Garlic – 4 large cloves, minced (makes about 1 tbsp heaped)

5. Crushed chilly flakes – 1/4 – 1/2 tsp

6. Celery – 2tbsp, finely chopped

    Carrot – 2 tbsp, finely chopped

    Green bell pepper – 2 tbsp, finely chopped

7. Soy sauce – 1 – 1.5 tsp

   Chilly garlic sauce – 1.5 tsp

   Vinegar – 1/2 – 1 tsp

8. Salt – To taste

9. Spring onion – 2 tbsp, to garnish

Method

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a wide pan, add the beaten eggs and scramble them. Transfer to a plate.

2. In the same pan, heat 1.5 tbsp oil at medium-high heat and add minced garlic. Stir-fry until garlic starts to change color. Add crushed chilly flakes and continue stir-frying until garlic turns brown (be careful not to burn garlic otherwise it will turn bitter). Add the chopped vegetables and stir-fry for a minute. Next add the cooked rice and mix well. Finally add soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, vinegar and salt to taste. Stir-fry for 1 – 2 minutes. Add scrambled egg and stir-fry for 1 more minute. Switch off and garnish with chopped spring onion. Serve hot.