Bengali Veg Fried Rice

Bengali veg fried rice is another special delicacy served mainly at festive occasions in Bengali households, like weddings functions and parties. It is an aromatic rice fried with ghee, mixed veggies and garam masala.

Bengali fried rice is very different from the Indo-Chinese fusion fried rice with eggs and veggies. When you eat Bengali fried rice, you will know that it is a completely Indian, rather I would say a Bong version with all Indian ingredients, is aromatic delectable and has elegantly bold flavors. It is a very healthy rice served with various curries and cholar dal.

For Bengali Veg fried rice, the vegetables are cut in slightly bigger size portions, which is quite unlikely and not so common in other versions of fried rice wherein the veggies are cut in relatively small size.

You can add fried cashew nuts and raisins during the tempering but that is optional. Serve delicious veg fried rice to your loved ones on festive occasions and it will be a sure winner!:)

P.S: This recipe incorporates garam masala powder which is sprinkled on top of the rice. You need to be very careful as to what brand of garam masala you are using, since few brands have quite strong flavors and just sprinkling on top of the rice may ruin the taste of this dish. Hence it is best to use home-made garam masala powder. Take a mix of whole garam masala and grind it in the blender until you get a fine powder.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice – 1 cup (washed and soaked)

Bay Leaves – 2-3

Onions – 1 large (cut into slices)

Green Beans – cut into medium sized long portions

Carrots – Cut into juliennes

Green bell pepper – cut into juliennes

Chopped spring onions – a handful of it

Garam masala powder – 1 tsp (home-made)

White pepper powder – 1/2 tsp

Salt – as per taste

Sugar – 1 tsp

Ghee – 2 tbsp (essential)

Method:

1. Make the basmati rice. While preparing the rice, add the bay leaves and some olive oil to the rice. You can add some extra whole garam masala as well like cinnamon, cloves and cardamom pods. Once the rice is done, let the rice cool.

2. Take ghee in a pan. You can take a combination of oil and ghee but do not skip out on the ghee. Ghee plays a prominent role in imparting the typical flavors of Bengali Fried rice.

Add the thinly sliced onions. Fry for 1 min.

3. Add in the sliced carrots. Stir fry for 1 min.

4. Add in the sliced green beans. Stir fry for 1 min.

5. Add in the sliced bell peppers or capsicum. Mix and stir fry everything for around 2-3 mins.

6. Then add in the cooked rice. Mix well.

Then sprinkle the home-made garam masala powder on top. Sprinkle salt, white pepper powder and some sugar. Give everything a good mix for 2-3 mins until the rice is heated through.

7. In the end add some chopped spring onions, mix well. Then turn off the heat.

Serve Bengali veg fried rice hot with your favorite curries.