Mushroom Fried-rice

Chinese food has always tickled my taste-buds, and always will. I can eat it everyday maybe. No, I haven’t tried, but there’s no doubt about it. I love it to bits! Regardless of the fact that the food at the restaurants is delicious, when we make it as home, it’s definitely healthier and we know what’s gone into the dish. Agreed? Come weekends and somehow, I get into the mood for Chinese food. Don’t ask me what’s the connection, cos I really don’t know. Give me some scrum-yumm food from China Town, a nice movie, and a comfortable couch – bliss! Oh wait, thrown in a goblet of wine too, will ya? 😉 Double bliss! *hic!*

Before I get onto the recipe, I should tell you that Mushrooms are my new profound love, after I heard about their health benefits. If you don’t eat mushrooms yet, you totally should start right away. They’re really good for your cholesterol and people with diabetes benefit from it too. Now that I’ve told you this, you can guess that a lot of mushroom-based recipes are on their way no? Totally! 🙂 I served my mushroom fried-rice with some Sesame Potatoes in a Manchurian Sauce. Recipe for that coming soon. OK, so go read your recipe now, make yourself some good food, and have a fun weekend!

Mushroom Fried-rice

Ingredients:

• Jeerak Samba Rice/Jeera Rice (short-grained, fragrant rice used in Chinese cooking) – 3 cups
• Onions – 2 nos (medium-sized; finely chopped)
• Button Mushrooms – 250 gms (washed and sliced)
• Ginger – 2″ long piece; finely chopped/minced
• Garlic – 8-10 pods; minced/crushed (alter to suit your taste)
• Green Chillies – 2-3 nos (or as much as you like; finely chopped)
• Spring Onion Shoots – 15-20 nos (chopped to 1/2″ pieces)
• Soy-sauce – 1 tbsps
• Chilli-sauce (optional) – 1-2 tbsps (or as much to suit your taste)
• Salt – to taste
• Ghee – 2 tbsps
• Oil – 1 tbsp

Note: I do not use MSG or Ajinomoto in my cooking since it is believed to be very un-healthy and cancer-causing. If you are using it currently, I urge you to stop using it cos some of the things I’ve heard about it are not very pretty after all.

Procedure:

• Set the rice to cook with rice:water in 1:2 ratio. Ensure you add about 1/2 tsp of salt to the water before you place in the cooker. I cooked my rice in my rice-cooker and got perfect, non-sticky and separate grains of rice once done (You could even use your normal, everyday rice. Only, it wouldn’t taste just the same, so don’t say I didn’t warn you!).
• Once the rice is done, gently spread on a wide plate and let it cool, preferably under a fan whirring in full speed. Don’t stir too much, else you’ll end up with mashed rice. Just let it do its thing while you get the other things ready.
• Now, heat oil in a wok. Add the finely chopped onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Saute on a medium flame till the onions are cooked tender and the whole house starts to smell like a Chinese restaurant. My place sure did!
• Add the spring onions and saute another 2 minutes till they wilt.
• Next, throw in the sliced mushrooms and continue to saute till it is cooked. The water content in the mushrooms is sufficient to cook the mushrooms, so don’t add any additional water.
• Add adequate salt (don’t forget the rice has salt added too, so be careful of how much you put in). Stir well.
• Add the ghee, stir well and let the lovely aroma fill your nostrils. (This is my secret ingredient in place of MSG. Try it..it works wonders! All you need to do is walk a mile or two extra the next morning, and you’re not guilty anymore)
• Simmer the flame and add the soy-sauce and chilli sauce (if using). Ensure you simmer before you add the soy-sauce, else you’ll end up with a funny, burnt taste in the fried rice…something I’m sure you wouldn’t relish. Stir well.
• By now the rice would have cooled. Use a long, flat spoon/spatula and gently flatten out any lumps in the rice. Add the rice to the wok , stir well to incorporate and cook on a high flame for 3-5 minutes, stirring continuously.
• Remove from flame, garnish with more chopped spring onions, and serve hot with some appetizing Manchurian or some Sweet-n-Sour Sauce, or any other Chinese gravy of choice. You could try the No-fry Cauliflower Manchurian Gravy, or better yet, just wait for the Sesame Potatoes in Manchurian Sauce recipe…it’s coming soon! I promise 🙂