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Burnt garlic fried rice

Burnt garlic fried rice: leftover rice tossed with deeply browned garlic, spring onion, soy and pepper

Burnt garlic fried rice is one of the most-ordered dishes in Indo-Chinese restaurants from Mumbai to Bengaluru, and it is a ten-minute dinner at home with a tub of leftover rice. The name is a bit of a fib: the garlic is fried to a deep golden brown, never black, so it turns nutty and sweet, then tossed through the rice with spring onion, soy and white pepper. It is simple, savoury and fragrant, good alone or with chilli paneer or a vegetable manchurian. The usual mistake is letting the garlic go dark brown in the pan, because it keeps cooking in the hot oil and ends up bitter. Chef's tip: lift out a spoonful of the golden garlic to scatter on top at the end, so you get crunch as well as flavour. Leftover rice must have been cooled quickly (spread out, into the fridge within an hour) and used within a day; fry it until it is piping hot all the way through and steaming, and never reheat it a second time.
Total time
13 min
Difficulty
easy
Serves
2
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Ingredients

Serves2
  • 10 cloves garlicfinely chopped
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 1 ⅛ lb cooked ricecold from the fridge
  • 4 spring onionssliced, whites and greens separate
  • 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
  • ½ tsp ground white pepper
  • ¼ tsp salttaste first

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What you'll need

Fresh ingredients (2)

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Method

0/6 done
  1. Step 1: Crumble 1 ⅛ lb cooked rice with your fingers so the grains are separate.

  2. Step 2: Put 10 cloves garlic and 3 tbsp oil in a cold wok, then set it over a medium heat. Stir constantly as it sizzles, until the garlic turns an even deep golden colour.

    3 min
  3. Step 3: Straight away lift out a heaped spoonful of the garlic onto a plate for the topping; the rest stays in the wok.

  4. Step 4: Turn the heat to high, add the white part of 2 spring onions and stir for 20 seconds, then add the rice.

  5. Step 5: Toss and press the rice over a high heat until it is coated in garlic oil and piping hot and steaming all the way through.

    3 min
  6. Step 6: Add 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce, ½ tsp ground white pepper and ¼ tsp salt and toss again. Fold in the green part of 2 spring onions, scatter over the reserved garlic and serve.

    1 min

Nutrition per serving

Calories
440 kcal
Protein
7 g
Carbs
70 g
Fat
15 g
Fibre
2 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

K
Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does burnt garlic fried rice take?
About 13 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 8 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?
2 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
Is it vegan?
Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
What can I use instead of garlic?
½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
What can I use instead of cooked rice?
Any long-grain rice, same amount.

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