Fried Rice

This is another of my creations. Tracing back the evolution of this dish I remember that this one was invented when I had to make something quick and non-spicy for my pal Anh Nguyen-Tuong while he worked on code we were supposed to collaborate on.

Ingredients:

• Rice (of course!)
• Cauliflower or Broccoli
• Finely chopped spinach
• Salt
• Green peas (optional)
• Turmeric powder (optional)
• Chili powder (optional)
• Jeera seeds (optional)
• Mustard seeds (optional)
• Vinegar (optional)

• Wash the rice. Take enough rice for four people because the recipe is meant for that many.
• Then stuff the rice in a pressure cooker and add water. The key to making fried rice is to add half the water you would normally add when making rice. So, instead of adding water equal to twice the amount of rice, add water equal to 1 or 1.25 times the amount of rice. Assemble the rest of the cooker and wait for two whistles.
• In another open vessel, pour some oil for some big time sauteing. When the oil is hot, add huge quantities (actually, half a fistful will do) of jeera. Wait for it to sizzle and then add about half a teaspoonful of mustard. Wait for it to pop. This is the usual way to make a tadka.
• Now that you have the jeera and the mustard doing a tango in the vessel, add a full chopped cauliflower or broccoli. Its a good idea to chop the cauliflower into individual trees, instead of geometric cubes or such.
• When the veggies are covered with the oil, dunk a packet of frozen chopped spinach in. Its a good idea to have thawed it some time ago, incidentally.
• Now, add salt to taste (how else?) and add turmeric and chili powder. A small note: I prefer the fried rice to have a delicate taste, not one which grabs you by the gullet. Hence my recommendation is to use very little of the spices. Avoid garam masala, but a hint of aamchoor powder should be great.
• Wait for the veggies to get half-fried - don't cook them fully!
• By this time the rice should be done so check if it is so. The rice is done if it has partly fluffed out. If you taste a bit of it, it should still be a bit chewy. If it is so, then dunk the rice in with the veggies.
• At this point of time you might want to add a bit more oil - yup, this is an oily dish. Mix the veggies and the rice well. The rice should take on a greenish hue because of the spinach. Allow some of the rice to get a bit burnt (just a bit) to give a nice crispy flavour.
• A dash of vinegar hits the spot. Enjoy with some tamarind chutney.