Easy Indian Style Chicken Fried Rice - Indo Chinese
Unbelievably juicy, perfectly marinated strips of chicken in a deeply flavored fried rice that's a little salty, yet spicy with pops of sweet. Perfect for busy weeknights, our restaurant style Chicken Fried Rice recipe is just what you need, when you want something quick but aren't willing to compromise on taste.
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 237kcal
Equipment
- skillet, wok or heavy bottomed pan
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- ½ cup boneless chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1 teaspoon corn flour
Sauce Mix
- 1 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Fried Rice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup red pepper thinly sliced into 1 inch pieces
- ½ cup green beans thinly sliced
- ½ cup cabbage thinly sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 7-8 green chilis
- ½ cup carrots finely minced
- 5 cups cold rice
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- In a medium sizes bowl, add the chicken, soy sauce, black pepper and corn flour together. Mix. Cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes to an hour prior to cooking.Mix the sauce (optional). To simplify the cooking process, I like to pre-mix the black pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil in a small bowl. The ingredients can also be added one at a time.
Stir fry the rice
- Heat a wok or heavy bottomed skillet on high heat until it begins to smoke.While the wok is heating, whisk the eggs with ¼ teaspoon of black pepper and set aside.Once the wok is smoking, add the oil and butter. Swirl the wok and add the minced garlic. When the garlic turns slightly golden around the edges, add the marinated chicken. Sauté with the garlic. As soon as the chicken turns slightly brown, push the chicken to one side and cook the whisked eggs on the other side of the wok. Vigorously sauté the eggs until they are done but still wet. Push the chicken and egg mixture to the sides and then add the vegetable starting with the ones which take the longest to cook sautéing the mixture for about 30 seconds before adding the next one. In the case of this recipe, add the beans, followed by the carrots, green chilis, peppers and cabbage.Add half the cold rice to the vegetables, chicken and egg mixture and mix well. Then repeat with the remaining rice.Add the sauce mix and mix.Transfer the fried rice from the wok to a platter to prevent overcooking and clumping. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Always break up the cooked rice, before adding to the wok. This ensures that the rice separates into individual grains without getting broken and that every grain gets a chance to get evenly toasted and coated with an equal amount of that glorious sauce.
- Have all the ingredients ready and close at hand before cooking. The cooking process itself just takes about 5-10 minutes and requires constant mixing so there is no time to look or prepare an ingredient.
- Cook on a blazing hot wok. The wok needs to be smoking hot before adding the first drop of oil. Think about it as searing not frying and definitely not steaming.
- For large amounts, cook in batches. According to J. Kenji Lopez Alt, the best way to cool a large amount of fried rice is in batches. As each batch is done, transfer to a bowl so that you can maintain toasting quality and flavor. Once done, add it all together in the wok and mix thoroughly.
- Adding a little sugar helps brighten the flavor.
- If you need more seasoning add salt not soy sauce. Soy sauce adds moisture which leads to clumpy rice and can overwhelm the other subtle flavors.
- Half scramble your eggs before cooking fried rice to maximize flavor. If you want the perfect harmony of perfectly flavored eggs, you need to half scramble your eggs and add the remaining ingredients while the eggs are still a little wet. While taste of course is very subjective, I feel that if you add scrambled eggs to the cooked fried rice after the cooking process , the eggs don't absorb any flavor.
- Marinating the chicken makes a huge difference! While there is nothing wrong with throwing in some raw or leftover chicken, a very easy way to maximize flavor is to simply marinate the chicken for a few minutes. A little soy sauce (adds richness and depth), corn starch (tenderizes the chicken) and pepper (add heat) adds in that restaurant quality taste. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces to maximize the surface for the marinade.