This meal came about when I had a ton of Indian leftovers in my fridge. My family was in town, and when my parents order they always get Biryani. Which is delicious, but it means that the white rice that comes with the meals doesn’t get eaten. Because Biryani is better! But then it meant that I had way too much white rice in my fridge, with no curries to have it with. My first thought had been to try and make biryani, but some quick googling proved that to be more difficult than I wanted to attempt (there’s whole spices, and I think you’re supposed to boil them and cook your rice in the water). So I took to the stove with some ghee and garam masala and freestyled this Indian-Inspired Fried Rice.
I’ve gotten so in the groove of making this recipe that it’s been my lunch… nearly every single day of my classes (I buy brown rice when I don’t have leftovers). It’s just so easy to make for a few days out, it takes me 10 minutes to pull together, it requires some very cheap ingredients, and it is really easy to heat up in the microwave at school. Since I’m trying to be conservative with my spending, I can get 4-5 lunches for less than $9 (not counting the ghee and spices).
My protein of choice when I’m packing it for school is chickpeas, since it keeps easier for storing for a few days. You can also add chicken, but if I’m making it fresh at home, my favorite what to make it is with scrambled eggs. 
I’ve found that when I cook, especially when it comes to spices, I will freestyle and follow my heart with how much I should put in. So this is more of a guideline than a recipe. You know how much spice you like and can tolerate. And you know how much leftover rice you’re doctoring up! I’ll just let you know what spices and proteins and fats I use, and you can freestyle too.
The steps of this recipe are very simple. We’re taking this:
Adding these ingredients:
And it results in this!
I’ve formally put it in recipe form below, but really… just pop all the ingredients in a pan on the stove, and it will work out!
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PinIngredients
Measure all of these with your heart, or whatever amount of them you have leftover/in your fridge:
- Leftover rice (white or brown), or your favorite fresh rice
- Chickpeas (or chicken, or eggs, whatever protein you’d like!)
- Frozen mixed veggies (the blend I get is carrots, corn, and green beans)
- Ghee
- Spices: garam masala, turmeric, cumin, paprika, garlic powder
Instructions
Place your pan on the stove over medium heat. Begin melting your ghee in the pan. Add your rice, get it coated in ghee, and then add all of your spices and stir it together. Add your veggies and protein, and keep stirring. Salt generously, to taste.
Once the veggies are heated through, it’s ready to go!