Sprouts Fried Rice Recipe | Easy Lunch Box Ideas

Fried rice is an easy lunch option for me on weekdays as it is the most convenient one pot meal to prepare.While most of the times I prepare Chinese Vegetable Fried rice as it is the best way to consume lots of vegetables, I also prepare Sprouts fried rice if I have sprouts at hand.It is almost prepared in the same way as we prepare fried rice,but here in this recipe we use larger quantities of sprouts relative to vegetables to enhance the flavor of the dish.It is an ideal recipe even for lunch box.

Moong Sprouts Fried Rice Recipe:

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati Rice

1 cup whole Moong Sprouts(Green gram)*

1/4 cup Cabbage,shredded

1/2 Green/Red Capsicum,finely chopped

3-4 bulbs of Spring Onion whites,sliced thin

3 stalks of Spring Onion greens,chopped

1 tsp Garlic,finely chopped

1 tsp Ginger,finely chopped

1 tsp Soya sauce

1/2 tsp Vinegar

1/2 tsp Black pepper powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Method:

• Wash and soak basmati rice for 10 mins.Cook it in a pot full of water over open flame until done and drain the rice or pressure cook the rice with 1 and 3/4th cups of water for 1 whistle and cook for 4-5 mins on low flame.Spread the rice on a wide plate and apply 1 tsp of olive oil to it so that the rice grains remains separate and let the rice cool completely.
• Heat olive oil and sesame oil in a big wok and add finely chopped garlic and ginger and fry well.You should do this rice in high flame,so keep all the ingredients ready before you start and saute the ingredients quickly.
• Add sliced spring onion whites and fry for a minute.
• Add shredded cabbage and finely chopped capsicum and fry again on HIGH flame for 1-2 minutes.
• Now add moong sprouts and spring onion greens and quickly saute for another minute.
• Add soya sauce,vinegar,salt and pepper powder and quickly saute now.I usually add a pinch of sugar now which balances the sauce taste.It is your wish to add sugar or not.
• Add cooled and separated cooked rice and quickly stir fry the rice so that it mixes with the vegetables nicely.Do this gently and take care that you would not mash up the rice.Stir fry or toss it on high flame for 2 mins.

Serve it hot with Tomato sauce/Ketchup or as it is.

* To make Moong sprouts  - Wash and soak whole green gram(moong) in water overnight for 12-14 hrs.Drain all the water and tie the sprouts in a thin muslin cloth and hang it to a stick(or nail) for 15-16 hrs or bit longer until you see the sprouts.Keep sprinkling some water in between to keep them moist.

Notes:

• In chinese cooking Ajinamoto(chinese salt) is added to give extra taste,I have not added to it as it is supposedly not good for health.If you would like to add feel free to add 1/2 tsp Ajinamoto along with pepper powder.
• It is always better to use finely chopped ginger and garlic bits in the recipe instead of Ginger-Garlic paste as a bite into crisp ginger adds a nice taste while eating fried rice.
• I recommend you to refrigerate the cooled rice at least for half an hour which helps the rice in holding the shape while frying.
• The entire cooking is to be done over a high flame which helps in retaining the crispiness of vegetables and sprouts and the flavor of the dish,so you should be quick while sauteing the veggies and rice.
• I have used dark soya sauce in the recipe,if you are using light or regular soya sauce increase it to 1 tsp soya sauce.
• You can use bean sprouts instead of moong sprouts in the recipe.