Lemon thyme flavoured Chilli fried rice….

K’s lunchbox is always a challenge for me.. ! He is such a workaholic, he hardly eats when he is working & I always have to make sure that I make him something that will draw him to his lunchbox & not skip it.Even though K prefers anything but rice in his lunchbox, Biryani & fried rice is something he always says yes to. Leftover rice always involuntarily makes me want to cook fried rice. A good warm bowl of fried rice always with or without a curry is always comforting to both K & me..

K got excited when I told him I was packing him some fried rice for lunch. Its been a while since he carried fried rice in his lunch-box. We always love a bowl of hot & spicy fried rice. I was looking around my kitchen shelf for ingredients to throw into the fried rice when my eyes fell on the bottle of dried Lemon Thyme.. & the rest is history..

You vegetarians may get disappointed as this is a non-veg fried rice as it contains fish sauce.. Chicken stock can be substituted for vegetable stock. So you vegetarians would need to skip the fish sauce if you plan to try this out. You eggitarians if you wish to add some scrambled eggs into this.. go ahead & indulge.. 🙂

Also, I have noticed that left over rice always gives a wonderful texture to fried rice as the excess water tends to have dried up & each grain of rice is nice, firm & its perfect for such dishes. If you plan to use freshly cooked rice then cook it well in advance & let it stand for a while, that ways you can avoid mashed up fried rice.

This was an experiment & it turned out to be a fried rice with loads of yummy flavours. The lemon thyme gave an amazing aroma to this. Before I go on & on.. let me just stop & let you enjoy your weekend…

Ingredients: (Serves 2 )       Preparation Time:  10 mins (if you have the rice ready)
Cooked rice – 2 cups, preferably leftover
Carrot – 1 medium-sized, finely chopped
Dried lemon thyme – 1/8 tsp
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped/minced using a mortar & pestle
Garlic – 3, medium-sized cloves, finely chopped/minced using a mortar & pestle
Dried red chilli’s – 3-4, spicy variety, finely chopped or use 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes
Rice vinegar – 1 tsp
Light soy sauce – 1 tsp
Fish sauce – 1 tsp
Chicken stock cube – 1
Spring onions – 2, finely chopped, Note: You don’t see a lot of spring onions in my dish because I was left with just one to use.
Cooking oil – 1.5 tbsp

Method:
Use your hand to separate the grains of the leftover rice, often they tend to form small lumps. Keep this aside.

Heat the oil in a wok/deep bottom fry pan. Add the minced/chopped ginger & garlic & sauté them for just about a minute. Make sure the heat is set to medium. Throw in the red chilli’s along with any seeds & fry them till you start coughing.. I’m kidding of course, fry them for a bit till they infuse their flavours into the oil. You don’t need to let them change their colours.

Add the stock cube, you may powder it in advance if you wish to. Toss the contents around till the stock cube softens & dissolves. Add the rice vinegar, soy sauce & fish sauce. Let these sizzle for just about a minute. Now, go ahead & add the chopped carrot pieces, toss them around. Next throw in the cooked rice. Mix well. Be gentle on the rice, you don’t want to break them into bits while you are tossing them around. Add the spring onions.

Note: You don’t need to additional salt, but do taste & add if required. Keep a glass of water around, your mouth may be on fire.. Kidding! I seem to be in a mood for silly jokes today..!

Mix well. Turn off heat.
Serving Suggestions:
Serve hot as is or with a Chinese curry as an accompaniment.

I thought I would post a sweet dish today.. damn me.. I never have enough inspiration to get that done..! I hope I end up cooking a sweet dish soon.. been ages since I posted something sweet..  hot & spicy food & me are like Siamese twins.. 

Have a fu, crazy weekend guys..!

If you like this recipe, then you may also like – Burnt Garlic Chilli Fried Rice with Chicken, Sweet n Spicy Spinach Chicken – Chinese style, Sweet & Sour Pork…., Chicken & mushroom in Hoisen sauce… etc.

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