Burnt garlic fried rice is a popular and tasty Indo Chinese fried rice dish made with basmati rice, mix vegetables, soy sauce, pepper and lots of garlic. You will find this garlic rice easily available in Chinese restaurants and takeaways in India.
I had got a couple of requests to post the recipe of burnt garlic fried rice. I have had this version of garlic fried rice many times in restaurants, so it was easy for me to know what goes into it and how the dish is made. Yes some of the times, I end up asking the chef in restaurants, as to how the recipe is made.
Preparing garlic fried rice is similar to making Veg Fried Rice but with a small difference. This small difference makes for a big change in the overall taste and flavor of this fried rice – finely chopped garlic are stir-fried till they are faintly or slightly burnt and then mixed with rice or the rice is mixed with it.
You can choose whatever method suits you. I stir fry the garlic before and then add the veggies and rice. If you want you can stir fry the onions, veggies and rice first. Then stir fry the garlic in a bit of sesame oil and then add to the veg fried rice.
While making most of the Indo Chinese recipes, you need to chop the veggies finely. Either use a good knife or use a food processor. Food processor is easier, but I prefer to chop the veggies with a sturdy chef’s knife. Could be as that’s how I have been trained 🙂
You can serve garlic fried rice as it is or with a side dish like paneer manchurian or mushroom manchurian or Veg Manchurian or Gobi Manchurian.
How to make Burnt Garlic Fried Rice
Cooking rice
1. Rinse ½ cup basmati rice very well in water till the water runs clear of starch. Then soak rice in enough water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes drain the water and keep the rice aside.
Instead of basmati rice, you can also use long grained rice.
2. In a pot or pan heat 3 cups of water.
3. When the water becomes hot, add ¼ teaspoon salt.
4. Next add ¼ teaspoon oil.
5. Bring the water to a boil on a high heat.
6. Then add the rice.
7. Gently stir or shake the pan.
8. Cook the rice on high heat, till it becomes al dente. This is the rapid boiling method of cooking rice. Hence no need to cover the pan with any lid.
9. The rice should be al dente, meaning almost cooked but with a slight bite in the center. Don’t cook the rice more as while stir-frying in the later steps the rice grains can break or become pasty.
10. In a colander or strainer, strain the rice.
11. Gently rinse the rice with running water. This will stop the cooking of the rice.
12. Cover and set aside the rice to cool at room temperature. The rice has to be completely cooled at room temperature before you add it to the stir-fried veggies.
Alternatively, refrigerate the rice for about 30 minutes while you prep the veggies.
Making burnt garlic fried rice
13. Now rinse and then chop finely all the veggies. You can use your choice of veggies. You can even grate the veggies you want.
I used ⅓ cup chopped spring onion whites, ⅓ cup finely chopped carrots, 5 to 6 french beans (finely chopped) and ⅓ cup finely chopped capsicum.
Also finely chop 9 to 10 small to medium garlic cloves and keep aside. You will need 1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic.
14. In a well-seasoned wok or kadai, heat 2 tablespoons of sesame oil.
15. Add 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic.
16. On a low heat, begin to stir fry the garlic.
17. First the garlic would start turning light brown and then become golden.
18. When the garlic turns golden, remove 1 to 2 teaspoons of the garlic and set aside. We will use this fried garlic for garnish.
19. Now continue to fry the remaining garlic till it becomes more browned and a bit burnt.
20. Once the garlic becomes more browned, then add the spring onion whites. Reserve the spring onion greens to be added later and for garnish.
21. Increase the heat to medium or high and stir fry the spring onions for a minute.
22. Then add finely chopped french beans. This step is only if you are using french beans. If not using french beans, then move to step 24.
Also do finely chop the french beans. You can also blanch the beans, chop and then add.
23. Stir fry for 2 minutes on a medium to high heat.
24. Then add all the other finely chopped veggies.
25. Stir and mix well.
26. Add ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper or pepper powder and 1 teaspoon finely chopped celery. Add black pepper as per your taste requirements. Skip celery if you do not have it.
27. Mix very well.
28. Stir fry the veggies for 2 to 3 minutes on a medium to high heat. The veggies should have crunch in them.
29. Then add 1 teaspoon naturally fermented soy sauce. The one I used was a gluten-free soy sauce. So this recipe is also gluten-free.
30. Mix the soy sauce very well with the stir-fried veggies.
31. Add the cooled rice grains.
32. Season with salt according to taste. Go easy on the salt as some brands of soy sauce will have salt in them.
33. Mix and toss the rice very well with stir-fried veggies and burnt garlic. You can mix with a fork or spoon.
34. Stir fry rice for a minute.
35. Then add ¼ teaspoon rice vinegar and mix. Adding rice vinegar is optional and you can skip it.
Instead of vinegar you can also add regular vinegar or apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. I generally add less vinegar, but you can add more or less as per your requirements.
Check the taste of garlic rice and add more black pepper or soy sauce or salt if required.
36. Switch off the heat and lastly add 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped spring onion greens. Mix very well. Keep a few spring onion greens for garnish.
37. Garnish it with some spring onion greens and the reserved browned garlic that we had kept aside.
Serve burnt garlic fried rice hot with a gravy dish like veg manchurian or gobi manchurian or mushroom manchurian or chili mushroom or any gravy dish of your choice.
For the best taste enjoy this stir-fried garlic rice hot or warm. Leftovers can be kept for a day. While reheating the garlic fried rice, saute the rice in a frying pan until warm or steam in the instant pot or a pan for 5 minutes.
Few more delicious Fried rice varieties from Indo Chinese cuisine are:
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Burnt Garlic Fried Rice
Ingredients
For cooking rice
- ½ cup basmati rice or any long grained rice or 100 grams
- 3 cups water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
For stir frying rice
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 10 grams garlic or 9 to 10 small to medium garlic cloves or 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 60 grams spring onions (scallions) or 1 large or 2 small to medium spring onions or ⅓ cup chopped spring onion whites
- 80 grams carrot or 1 small to medium carrot or ⅓ cup finely chopped carrots
- 30 grams beans or 5 to 6 beans – finely chopped
- 80 grams capsicum or 1 medium capsicum or ⅓ cup finely chopped capsicum (bell pepper)
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped celery (optional)
- ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper or pepper powder – add as required
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce – naturally fermented
- ¼ teaspoon rice vinegar or regular vinegar (optional)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped spring onion greens
- salt as required
Instructions
Cooking rice
- Rinse basmati rice very well in water till the water runs clear of starch. Then soak rice in enough water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes drain the water and keep the rice grains aside.
- In a pot or pan heat 3 cups water.
- When the water becomes hot, add salt and sesame oil.
- Bring the water to a boil on high heat. Then add the rice. Gently stir or shake the pan.
- Cook the rice on high heat, till it becomes al dente. This is the rapid boiling method of cooking rice. Hence no need to cover the pan with any lid.
- The rice should be al dente, meaning almost cooked with a slight bite in the center. Don't cook the rice more as it will also get cooked while stir-frying in the later steps.
- Then in a colander or strainer, strain the cooked rice.
- Gently rinse the rice with running water. This will stop cooking of the rice.
- Cover and keep the rice aside till it cools at room temperature. The rice has to be completely cooled at room temperature before you add it to the stir fried veggies.
Making garlic fried rice
- Now rinse and then chop finely all the veggies. You can use your choice of veggies.
- In a well seasoned wok or kadai, heat sesame oil.
- Add finely chopped garlic. On a low heat, begin to stir fry the garlic.
- First the garlic would start turning light brown and then become golden.
- When the garlic turns golden, remove 1 to 2 teaspoon of the garlic and keep aside. We will use this stir fried garlic for garnish.
- Now continue to fry the garlic till it becomes more browned and a bit burnt.
- Once the garlic becomes more browned, then add the spring onion whites. Reserve the spring onion greens to be added later and for garnish.
- Increase the heat to medium or high and stir fry the spring onions for a minute.
- Then add finely chopped french beans. This step is only if you are using french beans. If not using french beans, then move to step 12.
- Stir fry for 2 minutes on a high heat.
- Then add all the other veggies. Mix well.
- Add crushed black pepper or pepper powder and finely chopped celery. Add black pepper as per your taste requirements. Skip celery if you do not have.
- Mix very well. Stir fry the veggies for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Then add naturally fermented soy sauce.
- Mix the soy sauce very well with the stir fried veggies.
- Add the rice. Season with salt as per taste. Go easy on the salt as some brands of soy sauce may have salt in them.
- Mix and toss the rice very well with the stir fried veggies and burnt garlic. You can mix with a fork or spoon.
- Stir fry rice for a minute.
- Then add rice vinegar and mix. Adding rice vinegar is optional and you can skip it.
- Instead of vinegar you can also add regular vinegar, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. I generally add less vinegar, but you can add more or less as per your requirements.
- Switch off the flame and lastly add spring onion greens. Mix very well. Keep a few spring onion greens for garnish.
- Garnish with the reserved fried garlic and spring onion greens. Serve garlic rice hot as it is or with a side of gobi manchurian, veg manchurian, mushroom manchurian.
Notes
- The recipe can be easily doubled or tripled to make a big batch.
- You can add your choice of veggies. You can also add button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms.
- Instead of basmati rice you can use a good variety of long-grained rice.
- Try to use naturally fermented soy sauce. In the recipe I have used naturally brewed gluten-free soy sauce. You can also use tamari or coconut aminos.
- For added protein add pan-fried tofu, mushrooms or bean sprouts.
- Spices like black pepper powder and seasonings like vinegar and soy sauce can be added less or more as per your taste.
Nutrition Info (Approximate values)
This Burnt Garlic Fried Rice post from the blog archives first published in August 2016 has been republished and updated on 27 August 2021.
which brand seasame oil do you use in chinese cooking ?
meenakshi, i am using sprig toasted sesame oil. toasted sesame oil gives a lovely Chinese style smoky flavor. but even sesame oil (gingelly oil) made from raw sesame seeds can be used.
Look like a great meal. Love it
thanks beena.
all your reciepes are easy to cook and saves time thank you
welcome sumaiya and thanks for the positive views.
Hi tnx for sharing, it looks yummy, will surely try. Sesame Oil which we have here is thicker and added at the end for flavour and to make the rice fragrant. It cannot be used for frying. What type of Sesame Oil do you use for this recipe please do share….tnx so much. God bless you 🙂 for all your wonderful recipes !
dimpy, i use the regular sesame oil which is made from raw sesame seeds. the toasted sesame oil can also be used. thats what the restaurant folks use in most of the chinese cooking here. welcome dimpy and thanks for your kind wishes 🙂