Hot and Sour Fried Mushroom Rice: (Chinese Style)

Ingredients:

Long Grain Rice(basmati) 1 cup
Button mushroom 250-500 gms - each halved
Tomato puree 1 cup
Soy sauce 2-3 teaspoons
Tomato sauce 2-3 teaspoons(optional)
Salt as per taste
Ajino motto(mono sodium glucamate) 1 pinch
Ground black pepper 1/2 spoon
Ground cloves 1/4 spoon
Ground fennel seeds 1/4 spoon
Ground cinnamon 1/4 spoon
Grated dry red chilies 1/2 spoon
Grated fresh ginger from 2" size
Grated garlic from 3-4 cloves
Finely chopped spring onions/green onions 1 cup
Sesame oil/olive oil/any vegetable oil.

Method:

Rice: Things to remember/follow before cooking rice. Wash thoroughly rice using plenty of water. Use running water that would be good. Wash rice until the water runs clear. The excess of starch will make the rice sticky....which wil eventually affect this dish.

Now.....as usual add 1:2 ratio water(1 cup of rice:2 cups of water).

Further add salt and few spoons of oil to this rice. Cook rice in a regular fashion.(either microwave/pressure cook/electric/stove top)

Once when the rice is done......spread it over a wide open tray/plate. Let it stay under fan if possible. Allow it to cool. We need cold rice for this recipe. Its always this way I make my cold rice. If you got your leftovers.....its still nothing wrong using it.

Preparation:

Take a wide pan. Preferably non-stick. Add oil to it.

When the oil is hot, add your ground spices to it........Cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, fennel seeds. Fry them for few seconds.

Then add grated dry red chilies, grated garlic and ginger too. Fry them real good. Until all the raw smell leaves.

When it is fragrant, add tomato puree, tomato sauce and soy sauce to it. Fry them too. Do not cover them with lid. Let the stove be in medium to high heat. The puree will be bubbling real good.....turns into shiny red color, oil comes in top.

This is the right time to add your mushrooms in here. Stir them to get well incorporated with the mixture you made. Maybe one could cover with lid now. Turn it into medium. Let the mushroom get cooked with its own moisture in it.

When the mushroom reduced in size and got cooked.....and there is no water anymore in the pan. Its right time to go to next step.(or if it is still moist and mushroom is not done....cover the lid and wait till it is done)

Bring your cold rice and mix it with this set up.....in the same pan. Fry them over high heat. Let the rice get well coated with oil and all spices with mushroom. The rice should be slightly crispy and shiny. The rice should probably change color.(usually red)

When it is all done. Turn off your stove. Then add green onions/spring onions to the rice. Mix them thoroughly.

Serve this food real hot with tomato sauce and hot sauce.